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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28521771">A Promise to the Moon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissBinx/pseuds/MissBinx'>MissBinx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Loss of Virginity, Misunderstandings, Omega Verse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:28:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>42,289</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28521771</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissBinx/pseuds/MissBinx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Omega Rey had been in love with alpha Ben Solo from the moment she laid eyes on him at 17 -- until he betrayed her and ruined her reputation at school. Seven years later, she finds herself forced to work with him, the last man she ever wanted to see.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>198</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>473</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The New Girl</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>By the age of 17, Rey Niima has lived with no fewer than nine different foster families and now in her senior year of high school, she’s determined to make her current stay with Unkar Plutt her very last before becoming a fully fledged adult. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Just a few more months</span>
  </em>
  <span>, she tells herself when she wakes up every morning. She repeats it every time she has to dig through empty cupboards to find food or when she’s forced to clean up the rundown shack where they live when it becomes so infested with flies that she can’t think straight. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t trust the system anymore. How could she when they could place her in such conditions? Or when they had no qualms about bouncing her from home to home like her life didn’t matter? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All Rey wants is stability. Calm. And she knows deep down inside of her that there is no human being on the planet who can give her what she wants. She can rely only on herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She leaves home at six thirty, a full hour and a half before her first day of classes at Rockport High, and when she creeps out of the house -- past Plutt who is asleep on the couch with his fat fist tucked down into his pants -- she shivers. The breeze coming off the ocean is crisp and bitter and she knows that fall will soon come. It’s her favorite time of the year.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She takes a deep breath and the smell of sea air and damp leaves almost makes her smile. Almost. She hoists her backpack over her shoulder and walks in the direction of her school. She hadn’t been able to sleep much the previous night, laying awake and thinking about her first day at her new school. She’d been tossed around enough that she knew now how to blend in and not call attention to herself as ‘the new kid’. There are rules and she repeats them to herself as she begins her trek to school: No taking the school bus, skip the cafeteria at lunch time, know the school map well enough to not need directions. The trick is not trying to fit in or make new friends. She just wants to be invisible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She can see a break in the trees and the tall stadium lights surrounding the school’s sports fields, and she picks up her pace. A nice long run will clear her mind, she knows so she bypasses the school altogether and heads straight for the track she knows is there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She slings her backpack onto the bleachers and leans down to tie the shoelaces on her ratty old sneakers. She needs a new pair -- these ones hurt her feet and make her back ache when she runs in them now -- but she knows that she won’t get a new pair. She goes through them faster than any foster parent is ever willing to shell out the cash and for Rey, the pain is worth the exhilaration she feels when she is running. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As she jogs down the bleachers, she thinks back on the past year and knows that she will never have it as good as she did then. She had liked living with the Millers. They were a nice family, a husband and wife who loved each other and a little daughter that Rey had even started to think of as her own little sister in that brief year that they had lived together. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She had loved their little house in the suburbs of Boston with the white picket fence and their fluffy Samoyed named Jack. The Millers liked her too, Rey thinks, and for a brief period of time, she had felt that stability that she craved deep in her soul. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then, she had presented as an Omega and everything had gone down the drain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She thought she was a beta, or rather she’d prayed to be a beta so that she never had to worry about designations, but Rey Niima had learned from a young age that she was doomed to go through life as the world’s unluckiest person. It was unlucky that her parents had abandoned her in a mall when she was seven, unluckier yet that by then she was too old for anyone to want to adopt her, and unluckiest of all -- that she had to present as an Omega when she was finally happy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey remembers feeling feverish that morning and burrowing under her covers, kicking them around and twisting herself deep inside of them like a cocoon. Maybe it was a cold or some type of flu, she remembers thinking, as her foster mom came in to check her temperature and suggest that she skip school that day. It wasn’t until her foster father came home during his lunch break to check on her that she realized what was happening.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t like thinking about that day. She shudders, pushing down the memory of Mr. Miller finding her in her pile of blankets, a haunted look on his face. Even worse was the way his breath felt so wrong against her glands as he pinned her to the bed, as his hand slid up under her pajama top. Even worse than all of that was Mrs. Miller walking in to find them, or how only a few hours later, everything she owned had been shoved into black garbage bags and tossed onto the lawn. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t fair, Rey remembers thinking, and now she is so bitter about it that she knows nothing about her life is fair. Why was it her fault that she had to go away because Mr. Miller had tried doing something terrible? Shouldn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> be the one punished for it? But things don’t work that way and Rey knows it. Even as Mrs. Miller had hugged her goodbye stiffly, she remembers the look of scorn in the older woman’s eyes. As if Rey had planned to steal her husband away. Now, she scoffs when she thinks about that look, about how her foster mother had lied and said she was sending Rey away for her safety. She knows it was a lie because she’ll never forget the look of pure hatred on her foster mother’s face as the car from family services drove her away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey shivers, not from the cold air,  and shoves the memory away before stretching her arms over her head and then leaning down to touch her toes.. Thinking about the Millers won’t do any good. They’re gone and now she has Unkar Plutt, a filthy beta who smells like fish and lives in a trailer by the train tracks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She only has to make it through one more year of school and then she would never have to worry about someone else taking care of her ever again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As she jogs towards the track, Rey smells the alpha before she sees him and she nearly doubles over from how strongly it affects her. She lets out an embarrassing whimper as her gut twists and her mouth salivates and steady throb begins between her legs. When he steps out onto the track, Rey freezes as he takes off and for a long minute, she stares transfixed  by how fast he can run -- and she finds herself thinking one of the strangest thoughts she’s ever had, as if it is not her own at all -- he is quick and strong and everything an alpha </span>
  <em>
    <span>should</span>
  </em>
  <span> be. She stares, mesmerized and hungry as his dark hair blows  in the wind and his long, thick legs propel him around the track.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey has wanted many things in her life: a family, a home, to be a beta. But the desire she feels for this boy shakes her to her very core and scares her so much that she backs away until her knees hit the bleachers and she grabs her bag quickly, sprinting away before she does something that she might regret.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The one thing that Rey hates more than anything about starting life at a new school is lunch period. She has been the awkward loner at the corner table more times than she cares to think about, so now she knows to avoid the cafeteria like her life depended on it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t like she could afford cafeteria lunch, anyway, so she’d made do with the stale bread and a jar of peanut butter she’d found in the back of a cupboard in Plutt’s crumbling little kitchen. She’d had to pick a few moldy spots off the bread, but it isn’t the worst food she’d had to eat by far. She shudders when she remembers what life had been like before her parents had abandoned her, the way her stomach used to cramp in pain from how hungry she felt. She’ll take the moldy bread, thanks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After finding a spot under a tree, she unwraps her sandwich and practically inhales it so that she might have enough time to get a few laps in before the lunch period ends. She feels cagey today, whether it’s because she didn’t get a chance to hit the pavement earlier or because she keeps catching whiffs of that Alpha boy all day, she isn’t sure.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she finishes her sandwich, she crumples up the paper bag it was in and shoves it into her backpack, jumping to her feet and doing a few quick stretches before shedding her windbreaker and taking off around the track, running as hard and fast as she could.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kaydel Connix watches Rey go round and round the track without stopping, and the younger woman has to wonder if maybe the New Girl is trying to punish herself for something. Really, it's amazing how she is keeping up such a fast pace and just watching her is making Kay’s lungs burn and her legs ache.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the brunette finally slows for her cool down lap, Kaydel jogs over to her. “Hey! New girl!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey raises an eyebrow, but keeps jogging. “Rey.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey, right. Nice to meet you. I’m Kaydel but you can call me Kay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey nods, but doesn’t shake the hand Kay was holding out. She just wants to be left alone to run in peace. She isn’t here to make friends. She’s too tired of trying to ‘make the best of things’ and now she only wants to survive.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, anyway,” Kay mumbles, dropping her hand. “You’re fast. Have you thought about joining the track team?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not interested,” Rey huffs, slowing down to a speed walk for the final lap. “Thank you though.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why not?” Kaydel asks, and with her long legs, it's easy to keep up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There are a lot of reasons, the main being that school sports cost money: there are administration fees, uniforms, travel fees for competitions. She has only known Unkar Plutt for a couple of weeks, but she knows that he would </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> pay for any of it. There are other reasons, of course, like blending into the background and quietly finishing her senior year. And then there’s the matter of the Alpha she had seen running earlier -- if he was on the team, she knew it would be trouble.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey doesn’t say any of that, she simply shrugs. “I’m just not.” She feels a bit bad about the crestfallen look on Kay’s face, so she adds, “It really is nice of you to ask though. Good luck.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With that, she gives a small wave and jogs over to her backpack, hefting it onto her shoulders and leaving the track.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kay finds Ben by his locker on her way back to the cafeteria and stops to talk to him. She can’t stop thinking about the new girl and how fast she is and how many competitions they can win with her on the team. “Ben.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turns to her and grins, “Kay. What’s up?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you seen the new girl?” she asks, leaning against the locker and watching as her friend, and neighbor, stuffs a textbook into his messy locker. She’s known Ben her entire life -- they’d grown up as neighbors and had shared the treehouse in his backyard for the better part of their childhood. Growing up as only children, they are the closest thing to a sibling the other one has.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t know there was a new girl,” Ben replies but it makes sense because all day he’d been catching a strange smell.. “Omega?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How’d you know?” Kaydel grins, and it’s not as if she knew for sure but Ben’s question confirms it. Kay is just a beta and she doesn’t pick up on scents the way her Alpha and Omega friends do, but Kay is good at picking up on other’s traits. Rey is small and agile, skittish and cagey like she knows Omegas tend to be. But if Ben smelled her, that just confirmed it. “Does she smell good?” Kaydel wiggles her eyebrows and laughs when Ben blushes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is there a point you’re trying to make here, Kay?” Ben asks and when he sticks his head in his locker and pretends to look for something, she knows she’s embarrassed him just a bit too much. He makes it so easy though…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I saw her running. She’s fast. Like Sonic fast,” Kaydel says. “And we have that open spot on the team…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why are you talking to me about it and not Dameron?” Ben says, raising an eyebrow. The fact that Poe Dameron got the spot as team captain still pisses Ben off. Poe is cocky and lazy and…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because he’s lazy,” Kay grins, but the truth is that she has had a thing for Dameron since middle school, but he was an Alpha and the Omegas at school threw themselves at him. He was popular and charming and would never </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually</span>
  </em>
  <span> look her way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good point,” Ben agrees. “Do you want me to talk to her?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes!” Kaydel says, grabbing Ben’s arm and giving it a squeeze. “Maybe you can use some Alpha charm on her or something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben snorts because he doesn’t think he has an ounce of Alpha charm in him. If it weren’t for the ruts he gets a few times a year or the size of his body, Ben would think that he is one hundred percent beta. He doesn’t really have girls chasing after him, unless you counted Bazine Netal, and he isn’t exactly a commanding leader (which is why Poe was chosen as team captain in the end).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Or not,” Kay snickers and gives Ben a wave when the bell rings for fourth period.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben doesn’t think much about the new girl outside of what Kaydel had told him. He knows that he needs to talk to her because if she’s as fast as Kay said she is, then she would help push them towards regionals and hopefully nationals. Then Ben will be able to get into Harvard and his life would be set. When he thought about it that way, it's a no brainer and he has already decided he’ll track her down and at least convince her to come to practice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then Rey Niima walks into his English Lit class and every thought he’s ever had in his entire existence is gone, only to be replaced with a singular word -- </span>
  <em>
    <span>mine.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben is an Alpha, but he’s never really felt like one. Sure, he’s gone into rut and practically lost his mind because of it a handful of times, but he isn’t like Poe Dameron. He’s not always sniffing every girl that walks past, he’s more obsessed with school and running than sex and procreating. All Ben Solo really wants is to get into Harvard and be a senator like his mother someday.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then, suddenly, he doesn’t care about law school or track or anything else. In his mind there is only this beautiful Omega and he can’t take his eyes off of her as she floats into the classroom on a pair of what Ben was sure were the most shapely legs he’s ever seen. He licks his lips, imagining how they would feel wrapped around his neck or his waist or thrown over his shoulders as he rutted her into his mattress...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He watches her hungrily as she chats with the teacher and he knew without even seeing her run, that Kay is right -- with legs like those, she could probably outrun the entire track and field team. He is so busy staring, that he doesn’t cognitively notice her coming closer until her scent hits him all at once and it's embarrassing the way his body reacts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shifts, turning his legs to the side, and tugs on his pant leg to make room for his growing erection as the new girl takes her spot in the seat across the aisle from his. He can’t help the way his nostrils flare when she lifts her hair off her neck, tying it back in a ponytail. She smells like flowers and rain and something primal and earthy like sex and sweat -- not that Ben knows what any of that smells like.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turns his head towards the window, trying to catch the breeze as it filters into the room. He’s painfully hard and needs to calm himself down. Maybe he could ask Ms. Kanata to use the bathroom so he can jerk off and get his mind back into --</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Solo!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shakes himself out of his thoughts and looks up at Ms. Kanata. “Huh? Yeah?” The class snickers and Ben kicks the back of Snap Wexley’s chair in retaliation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t seem to have an extra book. Would you mind sharing with Miss Niima until I can find one for her?” Ms. Kanata asks, giving him a pointed look as though she can read every thought running through his brain. If she can, if that’s even possible, it looks as though she doesn’t approve one little bit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, sure,” Ben agrees but with an inward groan. He moves his desk over, until it is right next to the new girl’s -- Miss Niima, and he can’t help the way his eyes find the protruding bump of her gland near her ear. He licks his lips and forces himself to look away as he opens the book and places it between them, the spine in the crack between their two desks. “I’m Ben,” he whispers as Ms. Kanata begins her lesson.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey,” she whispers, her voice cracking as their eyes meet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Rey</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Ben thought and the name is almost as pretty as the next word that floated through his lust-addled brain</span>
  <em>
    <span>: Mine.</span>
  </em>
  <span> It is hard to concentrate on The Great Gatsby when Rey smells so good and with all of the blood in his body rushing to his hard-on. He wants to pull her over onto his lap and push himself inside of what he is certain is the world’s slickest, tightest little cunt. He wants to push into her over and over, bend her over the desk until she’s sobbing his name. He wants everyone in the room to turn and watch and know that Rey is solely and completely his.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It is startling, the thoughts he is having, because he’s never had such filthy thoughts about someone the way he is having about Rey. She is driving him insane and she has no idea. At some point he zones out of the lesson completely, absorbed in fantasies of having Rey spread out under him, of being covered in her slick, of making her come over and over until she can’t see or think of anything else but him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the bell rings, Rey jumps out of her seat and makes a rush for the door and for a brief moment Ben is afraid that somehow she has been able to read his mind and knows all of the horrible, depraved things that he’s been thinking about her. He knows that is impossible, but it doesn’t stop him from feeling ashamed as he gathers his things quickly, holding his bag over his crotch in what he hoped was a covert way, and dashing out of the room after her, “Rey! Wait!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She pauses, her back still towards him and doesn’t turn to face him until he’d catches up with her. “Yeah?” she says meekly, her face red as she shifts uncomfortably, rubbing her legs together in what Ben naively assumes is a nervous gesture.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, you met my friend Kay earlier today.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, right. Yeah, during lunch period,” Rey nods, her eyes flicking around the halls like she wants to flee and for some reason, the thought of chasing after her makes his pulse race.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. She said you talked about joining the track team,” Ben begins.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m really not interested,” Rey interrupts, as if she knows where this conversation is going. “It’s nice of you all to ask but…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?” Ben interjected this time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey shrugs, looking down at the floor as she mutters, “It’s too expensive.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben is about to reply when he hears Dameron’s loud voice shout from down the hall, “SOLO!” He rolls his eyes and turns towards his teammate, but by the time Poe catches up and Ben turns back to Rey, she is already gone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Damnit,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Rey curses herself as she sprints away, stopping only when she rounds the corner and is gone from Ben’s sight. What on earth had compelled her to tell him that? She isn’t usually so open with people, especially not when it comes to money or her home life. She blames her Omega senses -- sitting next to an Alpha who smelled so good has muddled her brain. She can’t think straight because of the pheromones, she tells herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey knows his name now -- Ben Solo, and he is so much larger than he’d looked sprinting around the race track that morning. He is </span>
  <em>
    <span>big</span>
  </em>
  <span>, his body and his feet and thighs and his hands… </span>
  <em>
    <span>god, </span>
  </em>
  <span>those hands! She wanted them to circle her waist, hold her hands, pin her down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She is panting as she leans against the cinderblock wall, and she knows it isn’t from her sprint. Part of her is screaming at herself to turn around and race back to Ben. The overwhelming need for him is scary and even though that Omega part of her brain is telling her that Ben would take care of her, that </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> is why she’d felt the need to tell him the reason she wouldn’t join the team, the part of her brain that is </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rey</span>
  </em>
  <span>, who has experienced more heartbreak and pain in the past seventeen years than most people in a lifetime -- that part of her is telling her that Ben Solo is dangerous.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben Solo will hurt her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben Solo is not to be trusted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben Solo will not take care of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She repeats these three phrases over and over in her head as she vows to keep her distance from him. She won’t talk to him or Kay and she won’t run at the school’s track anymore -- it’s too dangerous. She just needs to fly beneath the radar and make it through one more year.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>After school, Ben heads to the Bean &amp; Leaf -- the cafe where he knows Kay goes after school to study before practice. He needs to talk to her about Rey, to come up with a plan of how to convince the sweet little Omega to join their track team, but as he is walking from the parking lot, Hux pulls up in his brand new Lexus and honks. “Need a ride?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben rolls his eyes, but opens the passenger side door and climbs in. “I’m meeting Kay at the Bean &amp; Leaf.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“A date?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gross. You know she’s like a sister to me,” Ben grumbles, earning a laugh from his friend. “We’re trying to figure out how to get Rey Niima to join the track team.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah, the new girl?” Hux asks, pulling up in front of the local cafe. The ‘downtown’ area of Rockport, which is really just a main street with a cafe and a few shops, is a five minute walk from the school but only a minute by car.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben nods as Hux pulls up to the curb and he climbs out, “You coming?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hux cuts the engine and shrugs, “Nothing better to do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kay is already waiting inside -- the after school rush won’t start for another few minutes -- and has a coffee for Ben and a chai tea waiting for Hux. “Knew you’d bring your lackey.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hux rolls his eyes and sits down. “So what’s this all about? Why do you need to convince the new girl to join?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s fast,” Kaydel explains. “Plus, Ben’s got a crush.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hux turns so fast, it's a surprise that he doesn’t give himself whiplash. “REALLY?” he grins. “Oh I love this bit of information.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I never said I had a crush on her,” Ben argues, but it’s useless when his entire face goes red. The problem with having known Kay for so long is that she can practically read his mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Isn’t it sweet? Can you imagine Ben with a cute little girlfriend? Oh, his mom is going to die!” Kay laughs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you so much as mention this to my mother, I swear to god…” Ben starts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah! Shit!” Hux’s tea spills as he jumps out of his seat, and goes to the window.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Ben cries as mops up the mess with a wad of napkins from the dispenser. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you see that?” Hux asks and Kaydel leans towards the window in time to see a swinging ponytail.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s her!” Kaydel gushes. “See? I told you she’s fast.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She could definitely whip Bazine’s ass,” Hux breathes and his face goes red too. “But don’t tell her I said that.” Bazine holds the state record for girls 400 meter dash and it's a record she is very vocal about. If she knew that there is a threat to it...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben is standing too, trying to catch a glimpse of his omega and her impressive skills, but she is already gone. “I missed it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, to be fair, it was a ‘blink and miss it’ situation. Damn, she’s fast. Almost supernatural.” Hux sits back down in his chair, looking over at his friend. “So how are we going to convince her to join?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben plops back down in his chair. “She told me it’s too expensive.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah,” Kaydel said. “That’s why? Well, it is expensive. Especially if we start winning competitions and have to travel out of state.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We could see if the coach will pay?” Hux suggests.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben shook his head, “She won’t take charity.” He doesn't know how he knows this is true, but he </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “We have to think of a way to convince her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re the one who wants to be a lawyer,” Kay teases. “You can figure out some kind of loophole.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben takes a sip of his coffee and contemplates the problem. If Rey doesn’t have money for track, she wouldn’t have money for college either. Their team is good enough to make it to nationals, especially with Rey, so she could get a full scholarship. Track &amp; Field fees were insignificant in comparison to finding enough money for four years of college. He could convince her of that much, he is sure. But there is still the matter of her needing that ‘insignificant’ amount of money. “I can convince her to </span>
  <em>
    <span>want</span>
  </em>
  <span> to join, but...” his eyes dart up to the window as Rey streaks past again, and the words die on his lips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hux snorts as he watches his friend stare, “Uh oh. He has it bad.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This actually works out well for us,” Kaydel laughs. “Because you can have Bazine while Ben is distracted by Rey and I  can have Poe while Rey is distracted by him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s assuming she’d want anything to do with Ben,” Hux laughs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why wouldn’t she want anything to do with Ben?” Kay asks defensively. “Look at him! He’s over six feet of buff Alpha goodness and she’s supposedly an Omega.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“As if we know anything about what it's like to be an alpha or omega,” Hux rolls his eyes and Kay shares a secretive smile with him. It is nice to have a beta comrade who understands what it is like to not understand this whole designation nonsense.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m gonna go talk to her,” Ben says, ignoring the conversation completely as he heads to the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ll have to catch up to her first,” Kay laughs, pointing out the window to where Rey is nothing more than a speck in the distance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben turns to her with a smirk, “No problem.” He is already out the door as Kaydel’s laughing voice calls out to him, but he can’t hear it anyway. The blood is rushing in his ears and his adrenaline takes over. He has one objective: catch his Omega.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Rey isn’t sure what she notices first -- the sound of Ben’s feet hitting the pavement or his incomparable Alpha smell. She has to struggle to keep her eyes from rolling back in her head as he falls into pace next to her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” he says and Rey is impressed by how easily he is talking to her, as if he hadn’t just sprinted a quarter of a mile to catch up with her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi.” She can’t turn her head to look at him because if she does, she would smell the sweat on his skin and then it would all be over. Ben Solo has a scary amount of power over her, she is realizing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> fast,” he says, even though he’s having no problem keeping up with her. When Rey says nothing in response (she seems to be holding her breath, Ben thinks), he continues. “I was thinking about what you said earlier. I know track is expensive but you’re good. You could get scholarship money. Free ride to college.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey’s running grinds to a halt. “Free?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben almost trips over his feet as he tries to stop, but manages to save himself, and turns around to jog back towards Rey who is now jogging in place. “Yeah. If a school wants you bad enough, they’ll give you full tuition.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey has heard of things like sports scholarships, of course, but figured that such things are the silly plot devices of cheesy TV shows. Afterall, who would give someone a free education just for running? “That’s a thing?” If she gets a free ride through college, that would be one less thing to worry about once she ages out of the system.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Ben nods, smiling at her poorly concealed excitement. “I mean, there’s still the fees for track and field…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Rey’s face fell. “Then I can’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah but when you compare it to the cost of college…” he starts to argue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I said I can’t,” she snaps.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your parents won’t pay?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t have parents,” she grinds out, feeling humiliated at having to admit it. It’s not that she doesn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually </span>
  </em>
  <span>have parents. She’s pretty sure they are out there somewhere, probably getting high on paint thinner. But what she means to say is that she doesn’t have anyone who cares enough about her to give her that kind of cash. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stares down at the ground and clenches her fists, feeling angry and humiliated. She’s told him three times already that it's too expensive and that she couldn’t afford it. He is so incredibly pushy and…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Ben reaches out and grabs Rey’s wrist. She doesn’t even realize that she’s been clenching and unclenching her fists until his fingers wrapped around her wrist. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. We’ll figure something else out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey blinks, suddenly feeling calm and not understanding why until she realizes that Ben’s fingers are stroking the inside of her wrist, right along a set of her  glands. She jerks her hand away. “What are you doing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To Ben’s credit, he doesn’t seem aware of what he’d been doing and drops his hands to his sides. “Sorry. I just want to help. Come to practice today.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey sighs, “If I come, you’ll leave me alone?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want me to leave you alone?” he asks, and Rey thinks that he sounds hurt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No. Please don’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Rey wants to say, but she doesn’t say anything because she is afraid of how little she wanted Ben to just leave her alone and forget about her. She has been alone long enough that it's a mantra now: friends mean disappointment. And boys, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Alphas</span>
  </em>
  <span>, mean even bigger disappointment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She must have been taking too long to answer, or perhaps he sees the answer written on her face, because he grabs her wrist again and begins tugging her along. “Come on. Just meet everyone and then we can see if there’s a way to get you on the team.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey wants to argue that she doesn’t want to be a charity case or owe anyone anything, but he is doing that thing where he rubs her glands and it makes her mind feel fuzzy. “Okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they get back to the cafe, Hux is standing by his car. “Hey,” he greets Rey and puts his hand out. “I’m Armitage Hux. But just call me Hux for the love of god…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey raises an eyebrow at the strange name but shakes his hand. “Rey.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben opens the car door for Rey and she hesitates before climbing inside. She is even more surprised when, instead of getting in the passenger seat, he pushes in next to her and shuts the door. Rey slides as far away as she can and glances over, thinking again about just how huge he is; so big he nearly takes up two entire spots in the back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blonde girl from earlier, Kay, climbs into the passenger seat and grins back at Ben. “Knew you could do it, Benny.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A strange feeling twists in Rey’s belly and it takes her a minute to recognise it as jealousy. Is this Ben’s girlfriend? She’s a beta, Rey can tell, and she doesn’t smell like Ben, which is reassuring. Rey feels awkward as the three friends begin talking about practice, so she turns her attention out the window and tries to ignore the butterflies when Ben’s fingers start to trace circles around the gland on her wrist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they reach the school, they all get out of Hux’s car and Rey decides to stick next to Kaydel. Ben keeps touching her and she can’t think straight. She should tell him to stop, to give her some space, but she can’t find the words. It is as if that inner Omega is refusing to let her speak them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kay smiles at her warmly and Rey decides that if she has to deal with these people, Kay probably isn’t so bad. “You guys are late!” a voice calls and when Rey finds the speaker, an Alpha with curly dark hair and a smug expression, she looks away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Omega,” he says to Rey and she finally looks over, wrinkling her nose in disgust at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Her name is Rey, numb nuts,” Kaydel says and wraps a protective arm around her shoulders. “Just ignore him. We all do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Poe makes a face at Kaydel but turns to Rey. “Right. Rey… you’re in my physics class, I think.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey thinks that he’s making an idiot of himself, pretending not to know when he’d been staring at her the whole time. If he is on the team, Rey doesn’t think she wants to be. “Yeah,” is all she says, her voice clipped.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Poe Dameron,” he offers her his hand and when Rey doesn’t take it, his face falls. “I’m the team captain.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey is really fast,” Ben interrupts the conversation. “She’d make a good addition to the team.” He gives Rey an encouraging smile and she finds it hard not to return it, even if it is only a fraction of his intensity.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s going on?” A chipper voice calls and when Rey turns, an Omega wearing an expensive pair of Lululemon leggings and a tight tank top is jogging towards them. She comes to a stop in front of Ben and smiles at him, batting her eyelashes, “Hey, Ben.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Baz,” he says and gestures to Rey. “This is Rey. She’s thinking about joining the team…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bazine looks over at Rey and crosses her arms over her chest, “We’re just letting anyone join now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’ll have to try out, first,” Kaydel says and she pats Rey’s shoulder. “But don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll do great.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can you even run in those shoes?” Bazine’s upper lip curls in disgust as she glances down at Rey’s sneakers. The sole of her left shoe had started to come off and she’d had to use some duct tape to keep it in place. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey’s face turns red and she clenches her fist again, realizing that she’s never wanted to punch someone so bad in her life. She doesn’t miss the way that everyone’s eyes go to her feet, nor the way they all look uncomfortable and pitying. The humiliation makes her angry and although she’s been dealt a shitty hand, she still has some dignity. “I can outrun you, I bet.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bazine scoffs, “Doubtful.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How about a race then?” Poe grins and Rey can tell that he is enjoying the idea of two Omegas fighting a little </span>
  <em>
    <span>too </span>
  </em>
  <span>much.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey shrugs and tightens her ponytail. “Sure. Unless you’re scared, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Baz</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” she says the name in a mocking tone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bazine narrows her eyes, “Of you? Don’t make me laugh.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let’s go, then,” Rey challenges and stomps towards the track. “200 meters?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Perfect,” Bazine says and makes a show of stretching lazily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey doesn’t bother. She toes the starting line and looks straight ahead as Poe calls out, “On your marks. Get set. GO!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bazine takes off, sprinting and Rey lets her pull ahead for a few seconds and when Baz turns around to gloat, Rey sprints ahead of her, earning cheers from the team members who are watching. She hears Bazine growl and can hear her trying to catch up, but it's too late. Rey’s spring is too fast, her strides too long for Bazine to catch up and when Rey crosses the 200 meter line, she slows down and turns around to gloat, “Hmm, guess your expensive trainers really can’t help you win if you don’t have the skill.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I want a rematch!” Bazine shrieks but no one is listening. The rest of the team has already joined Rey on the track.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was amazing,” Poe gushed. “You have to join.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey looks at Ben but doesn’t know what to say. He’s the only one who knows why she won’t join and after Bazine already humiliated her over the state of her shoes, she isn’t about to tell everyone that she’s too poor to join. “I’ll think about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stays to watch the practice, like she’d promised Ben she would, and when it’s done and everyone packs up their bags, Ben turns to her. “Do you have a ride home?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey shakes her head, “I’ll walk.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hux can drive us,” Ben offers as both Hux and Kaydel join him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey shakes her head. She doesn’t want any of these people to know where she lives -- the one bedroom house where she lives with Plutt is embarrassingly small compared to some of the fancy houses she’s seen on the eastern part of town. “I like to walk.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben looks unsure, like he doesn’t trust her to get home on her own, and it makes Rey angry for a second. As if he can read her, like he knows not to push the issue, he nods at her. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey nods her agreement and picks up her bag, waving to Ben and Kaydel and Hux before turning to walk across the field in the direction of Plutt’s shack. When she gets onto the main road, she hears a honk from behind her and when she turns, she sees Poe Dameron driving a rusty old station wagon. “Need a ride?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey is surprised to see his car and even more surprised that someone popular like Poe drives such a piece of junk. Or that he lives on the west side of town. She hesitates for a moment before climbing in the seat next to his -- at least he wouldn’t make fun of where she lives. “Thanks.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So,” he begins as he pulls away. “Do you want to join?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hesitates for a minute, “I uh, don’t think so.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why not?” he asks. “If you don’t mind me asking.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey shrugs and looks out the window. A beat passes before Poe asks, “It’s too expensive?” She turns back to him, surprised that he sussed it out so quickly and he laughs at her shocked expression. “I get it. What about a part time job?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know if I’ll have time for school and work and track....” she admits.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’ll figure it out,” Poe assures her. “My boss is hiring. I work at the pizza place downtown. And Ben’s really good at school. He could help you out if you need it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey fidgets. It’s a weird feeling to be so wanted somewhere and she knows on some level that it’s not her that they want or care about, but her skills. It just feels so good to be wanted that she says, “Okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay?” Poe grins at her and then whoops so loud Rey laughs and covers her ears. When he’s done celebrating, he finds her house and pulls up outside of it. “See you tomorrow, Rey!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She waves as he pulls away and hugs her arms around herself as she climbs the stairs to the little house and then pulls the squeaky screen door open. Her mind drifts to Ben and he’s still in the back of her mind as she finishes her homework and takes a shower before bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Hux pulls into Ben’s driveway, both Ben and Kaydel climb out of the car. “Do you think she’ll join?” Ben asks his friend and she gives him a look. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course she’ll join,” Kay says confidently. “She kept looking at you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben blushes, “She did?” There’s a hope to his voice that makes Kaydel laugh as she begins to veer away from him towards her own house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, nevermind that was you staring at her,” Kaydel makes kissy faces as she jogs the rest of the way to her house.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben rolls his eyes and fights down the disappointment he feels that Kay was only joking. He takes his shoes off and hangs his coat up -- his mom will nag him for a week if he dares to drape it over the chair -- and heads towards the kitchen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His dad is making dinner and his mom sits at the island, typing away on her laptop. “Hey, Ben,” she greets, taking off her glasses and setting them aside as she looks at him. She pauses and sniffs the air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll shower before dinner,” he huffs and grabs a bottle of water from the fridge. He’s a teenage boy who has just spent an hour running, of course he’s a little smelly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You smell like Omega,” Leia says and that makes Han turn around at the stove, sending his son a knowing grin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I do not,” Ben argues, but once again, his red face gives himself away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ooh, Ben! Do you have a girlfriend?” Leia gushes, clapping her hands.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” he says. “And even if I did, I wouldn’t talk about it with you!” He turns on his heel and heads upstairs to shower before dinner.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Benny has a girlfriend!” He hears both of his parents chanting in the kitchen and he can’t help the amused smirk on his face as he closes the bathroom door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I started this as a textfic on my twitter back in August and gave up when it seemed like no one was enjoying it. But I've been thinking about it a lot lately and have decided to continue it as a multi-chapter fic instead. I don't think this will be more than 6 or so chapters but there will be lots of smut and angst if that's your thing! </p><p>Thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day, Rey is on her way to English class, praying to whatever gods are listening that Ms. Kanata would have scrounged up another copy of The Great Gatsby so that she didn’t have to share with Ben again. She swallows as she remembers his scent, thick and rich and the most masculine thing she’s ever scented -- just the memory makes her shiver and she is reminded of how she’d spent the entire class with her legs squeezed so tightly together that not one drop of slick would escape her. Her thighs had burned from exertion by the end of the hour.</p><p> </p><p>How humiliating -- to have such a strong physical reaction to the way a boy smells. She’s never experienced anything like it outside of a heat, that clawing desperate need for another’s body, but she felt it yesterday, sitting next to Ben Solo. Every time he moved, another wave tickled her nose and drenched her core and she was so scared that he would smell it on her. </p><p> </p><p>She’s still thinking about Ben when Poe Dameron seems to leap out of nowhere and wrap an arm around her shoulders, “My boss wants to meet you.”</p><p> </p><p>“I-what?” Rey frowns and tries to shrug Poe’s arm from around her.</p><p> </p><p>“About the job?” Poe says, and Rey remembers their conversation from the car yesterday. She does not, however, remember agreeing to anything. “We can swing by after school since there’s no practice today.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey is still walking and despite her attempts, Poe’s arm is still draped around her as he follows her into the English class that he’s not taking. Ms. Kanata gives him an unimpressed look, but doesn’t ask him to leave yet because everyone else in class is still chatting before the bell rings.</p><p> </p><p>Ben notices her entrance and when she looks over, he is watching them with a strange look on his face -- his brows are furrowed and his lips pressed into a firm line and Rey tries once again to shake Poe’s arm from her shoulder. She hasn’t done anything wrong, but she can feel Ben’s disapproval and it makes her feel… <em> funny. </em>Like she’s done something wrong -- which she hasn’t -- and that she needs desperately to fix it -- which she doesn’t know how to.</p><p> </p><p>“Ben,” Poe says as if he didn’t realize his friend is watching them. The smug smirk on Poe’s face is all the indication Rey needs in order to know that he <em> is </em>aware of Ben’s displeasure. Rey doesn’t like this -- feeling like a piece of meat being fought over by two beasts and she physically takes Poe’s arm from her shoulder and drops it to his side. </p><p> </p><p>“I’ll think about it,” she says coolly as she takes her seat and ignores the immature looks that Poe and Ben are giving each other.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, I’ll see you after school then,” Poe replies as if she’s already told him yes. The bell rings and his eyes widen as if he suddenly remembers he’s supposed to be somewhere else and he sprints out of the room.</p><p> </p><p>“Think about what?” Ben asks, leaning closer to whisper so that Ms. Kanata doesn’t hear them as she does roll call.</p><p> </p><p>Rey shivers because he’s so close she can feel the heat of his breath and his smell is affecting her more than she wants to admit. She leans away but answers, “He’s trying to help me get a job.”</p><p> </p><p>Ben frowns and leans away from her, crossing his arms over her chest. When she glances at him, she has to bite back a smirk because he is literally pouting. She should be angry, annoyed -- but somehow it is just so endearing to her the way his plump bottom lip sticks out. She doesn’t look away until Ms. Kanata plops a book on her desk and gives her a stern look.</p><p> </p><p>Rey blushes, not just at being caught, but because this isn’t like her. She shouldn’t be charmed by a stupid pouty Alpha and yet she can’t help stealing glances at him the whole class period. When the bell finally rings, she is so annoyed with herself that she practically stomps out of class.</p><p> </p><p>She needs a run to clear her mind, but by the time she changes into a pair of shorts and grabs her lunch, the race track is already occupied by the one person she is trying to get away from so she sits under a tree and opens her bag lunch. Hopefully, Ben Solo will be long gone by the time she finishes.</p><p> </p><p>She opens the plastic shopping bag she’d been carrying her lunch in and pulls out the sandwich -- today it’s just a square of american cheese between two slices of bread. She watches Ben from the corner of her eye as she munches, feeling her throat go dry when he pauses in his running to take off his shirt and then uses it to wipe the sweat from his forehead.</p><p> </p><p>“Like what you see?” She hears a teasing voice and when she looks up, Kaydel is grinning down at her, hands on her hips.</p><p> </p><p>Rey’s face heats and she’s sure it's bright red as she answers, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh huh,” Kaydel smirks and plops down across from Rey. She has a slice of pizza from the cafeteria and it smells so good that Rey’s stomach growls loudly. “Relax, he’s totally into you too.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey doesn’t know where to look -- if she looks at Kay’s pizza, she’ll drool and if she looks over and sees Ben Solo, well, she doesn’t trust herself not to drool over <em> that </em> either. She settles on shoving the rest of her disgusting sandwich back into her lunch bag as she mutters, “Who says I’m into him?”</p><p> </p><p>Kaydel rolls her eyes, “Please. I may be a Beta, but I’ve got eyes.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not interested,” Rey says and she pulls a bruised apple from the bag and bites into it. She doesn’t want to be a slave to her designation. Yes, she is attracted to him, but that doesn’t mean that she wants him. All she really wants is to be free -- free from relying on others to take care of her, of her designation, of feeling like a complete waste of space.</p><p> </p><p>“You won’t find a nicer guy then Ben,” Kaydel says earnestly. “He’s not like most Alphas.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey scoffs because she knows it's not true. Kaydel hadn’t seen the stare off between Ben and Poe before English class. She takes another bite of her apple and chews, deciding not to voice her thoughts on the subject.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m serious,” Kay says, and when she tosses her pizza crust towards a seagull near the garbage can, Rey wants to dive for it. Who wastes perfectly good food? Kaydel is oblivious to Rey’s inner thoughts, “He’s a good guy. The best.”</p><p> </p><p>“Then why don’t <em> you </em> date him?” Rey presses and it comes out uglier than she’d planned. It wasn’t that she was jealous of the way Kay was singing his praises, or at least that was what she told herself as she finished the apple.</p><p> </p><p>Kaydel laughs, “Because he’s like a brother to me. We grew up next door. Our parents are best friends. We used to take baths together.”</p><p> </p><p>“What are you telling her?” Ben’s horrified voice cuts into the conversation and when Rey turns around, a very sweaty, shirtless, distressed Ben is standing behind her. She has no idea how she didn’t smell him coming -- the sheen of sweat on his skin gives his scent a new musky layer that makes her skin feel hot and tight. She can’t help bringing her fingers to her neck and scratching her gland.</p><p> </p><p>“That I wouldn’t date you because I’ve known you so long you’re practically my sibling,” she waves a hand dismissively.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m gonna go run,” Rey says and jumps up, tossing her garbage into the can and sprinting towards the racetrack. Ben watches her go, his eyes still lingering even as he sits down in her vacated spot.</p><p> </p><p>Kaydel sighs, “You had to go scare her off when I was trying to talk you up.”</p><p> </p><p>“I didn’t know that!” Ben huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. “I just hear you telling her about being in the bath with me!”</p><p> </p><p>Kaydel snickers, “Well, I’m trying to help you here. She is the most Omega-like Omega I’ve ever met. She’s so interested in you but terrified at the same time. It’s like watching a nature documentary.”</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe she doesn’t like me,” Ben sighs, and his eyes drift back over to Rey, who is streaking around the lap almost like she’s flying. “I think she likes Poe.” Ben looks defeated before the sentence even leaves his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Kaydel shakes her head. “Definitely not.”</p><p> </p><p>“He’s helping her get a job. And he had his arm around her today,” Ben argues.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, but that’s <em> Poe </em> ,” Kay points out. “ <em> He’s </em> after <em> her </em>. She’s fresh meat in his eyes.”</p><p> </p><p>Ben’s fingers clench into a fist at her words, at the thought of Poe treating Rey like just another conquest. “Yeah, but he always gets the girl. Even <em> you </em> have a crush on him.”</p><p> </p><p>“Do not,” Kay cries indignantly, though her face turns red. “He’s a pig.”</p><p> </p><p>“Hmph,” is all Ben says as he rests his chin on his hand and pouts.</p><p> </p><p>“I caught her watching you,” Kaydel tells him with a smirk. “When you took your shirt off.”</p><p> </p><p>He perks up at that, “Really?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes,” Kaydel smiles. “So you’re not just going to let Poe Dameron snatch her up when you’re her first pick. Here’s what you’re gonna do…”</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Rey tries sneaking home after school. She feels strange -- on edge and paranoid. She desperately wants to just go home but before she can even leave the building, she feels the weight of Poe Dameron’s arm around her shoulder once more. “Ready?” he asks.</p><p> </p><p>“I just…”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Poe cuts her off. “You want to spend your entire senior year hiding away when you have people who are trying to be your friends?”</p><p> </p><p>Yes, Rey wants to say, that is exactly what she wants. She’s made it almost 18 years by herself without any friends at all. But there is a small pathetic part of her that still wants to belong, to feel loved and appreciated. She bites her lip and shrugs.</p><p> </p><p>“Everyone needs friends. We’re going. Come on,” Poe removes his arm from her shoulder and gives Rey a gentle nudge outside towards the senior parking lot. He opens the passenger door of his shitty little car for her and Rey grudgingly climbs inside. As Poe drives them towards the waterfront area of downtown, Rey feels nervous -- she’s never had a job interview before and she’s worried that she smells from the two miles she ran at lunch.</p><p> </p><p>As Poe pulls into a parking lot tucked off of an alleyway, Rey is tempted to open the car door and run away but she swallows it down and follows Poe inside and she coughs to hide the way her stomach gives a loud growl at the delicious smells wafting around. “Mr. Morelli. This is Rey. The friend I was telling you about.”</p><p> </p><p>The fat, balding man gives her a disinterested one over and asks, “Can you carry pizza?”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, yeah. I think so,” Rey answers after clearing her throat.</p><p> </p><p>“Can you smile real cute and friendly?” he asks and Rey wants to wrinkle her nose at the suggestion, but gives him her best smile. “Good enough. Get her a uniform, Dameron.”</p><p> </p><p>The uniform in question consists of a white button up and the tiniest black mini-skirt she’s ever seen and she can only hope that this job will not involve bending over. Poe ushers her into the ladies room and tells her to change before the dinner rush and Rey’s head is still reeling from the fact that she was starting on the day she got hired. </p><p> </p><p>Rey is only an hour into her first shift before she has to admit that things are not going smoothly -- first, she burns her hand taking a pizza out of the oven and only minutes later, she drops an entire pie, face up, onto the table of a family and the father yells at her about how this is why Omegas should stay at home and not work. It takes her a solid seven minutes to stop crying in the ladies bathroom after that. She doesn’t <em> want </em> a job or to be a member of the track team. Everything happened so quickly; one minute she is just trying her best to lay low and the next, she is being cajoled into something she didn’t ask for. </p><p> </p><p>She is ready to go hang up her apron, as much as she appreciated Poe’s kindness in getting her this job and his patient assistance throughout her first shift, Rey didn’t <em> want </em>to be here. When she calms herself down enough to leave the stall, she washes her hands and leaves to find Mr. Morelli.</p><p> </p><p>“Rey,” she hears a voice and when she turns around, she sees Ben Solo sitting at a table with an older man and woman who must be his parents. She wants to run -- she can’t let him see that she’s been crying -- but now the man and woman sitting with him are smiling and waving and Rey forces herself to walk over on shaky legs.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi,” she says and forces herself to smile.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong?” Ben asks immediately and she busies herself by taking out her order pad so that he doesn’t see how she’s about to cry again.</p><p> </p><p>“What can I get you?” She’s trying to change the subject, to put on a strong face and she doesn’t know why she should care when she’s going to quit this job anyway.</p><p> </p><p>Ben takes her hand, and she thinks it must be instinct the way his fingers find the gland on her wrist and stroke soothingly. She’d tried to replicate the act in bed last night, but it didn’t make her instantly relax the way it did when Ben did it. Her shoulders sag and she looks at him as he asks again, “What happened?”</p><p> </p><p>She can feel his parents watching and she turns her body so that they can only see her back as she answers quietly, “I’m not good at this.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s okay,” Ben tells her gently. “No one is good at something the first time they try.”</p><p> </p><p>“I dropped a whole pizza,” she says miserably and it feels good to get it off her chest. “And the customer yelled at me and said that Omegas shouldn’t be working.”</p><p> </p><p>“<em> Who </em> said that?” an indignant woman’s voice came from behind her and when she turned to look, Ben’s mother was watching her with fire in her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, let’s give the kids a little privacy,” Ben’s dad suggests and guides his wife out of the booth. “We can go pick a song on the jukebox…”</p><p> </p><p>Rey turns her attention back to Ben and his eyes are just as fierce as his mother’s had been. “That guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. You’re strong, Rey. Don’t let it get to you.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey didn’t <em> feel </em>strong, but Ben was still stroking her wrist and it made her feel warm and fuzzy and almost… happy. So she nods at him. “Okay,” she replies, almost as if under some kind of spell.</p><p> </p><p>“What time do you get off?” Ben asks her and she shivers because now he’s scratching lightly at her glands and it’s making her tingle all over. She knows what this must be -- some kind of subconscious thing Alphas do to calm their Omegas and she isn’t Ben’s but for now she doesn’t mind the way her body seems to think so.</p><p> </p><p>“Eight thirty,” she answers, followed up with, “Why?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll take you out for ice cream,” he tells her and his cheeks redden because his parents have rejoined them, scooting into the booth and pretending not to listen in. “To celebrate finishing your first day.”</p><p> </p><p>“Um, sure,” Rey says, without even thinking. If she’d thought about it, she would have talked herself out of it and she remembers what Poe had said earlier, about everyone needing friends.</p><p> </p><p>“Cool,” he breathes and she thinks his smile is the cutest thing she’s ever seen, her heart fluttering in her chest as it stretches across his face. “I’ll meet you outside.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey nods and tries not to frown when Ben lets go of her wrist -- she knows its stupid because she has to get back to work, but she would much rather he keep performing whatever magic spell he was using on her. It would make getting through the rest of this hellish shift a lot easier. </p><p> </p><p>Rey and Ben both miss the amused looks that Han and Leia exchange at their expense and luckily they both manage to regain their composure when Rey turns to look at them expectantly, order pad and pen in hand. “Oh, um. Right. What would you like to order?”</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>“Do you need a ride home?” Poe asks when Rey returns her apron to the kitchen, frowning when she shakes her head. “Are you sure? I get off in a half hour. You can have some leftover pizza and…”</p><p> </p><p>“Um, I have plans,” Rey says, trying to control the blush. She turns away from Poe and takes her hair out of the messy bun she’d put it in and hopes that it looks half-way decent.</p><p> </p><p>“Plans?” Poe drawls, raising an eyebrow. “Does it have anything to do with Ben Solo?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey is sure her face is red and she looks down at her feet, “Uh, it’s just ice cream. To celebrate finishing my first day.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sounds like a date,” Poe says and when she looks at him, he’s smirking. She’d expected him to be angry or jealous from the way he’d been egging Ben on earlier, but he just looked amused. </p><p> </p><p>Her shock at his reaction must have been evident on her face because he laughed and said, “If you’d rather I take you out, that can be arranged, sweetheart…” He stalks towards her and she backs away on instinct until she comes into contact with the wall. “I’m <em> kidding </em>. Ben is my bud,” Poe shrugs. “This is the first time I’ve seen him interested in a girl and I’m not going to be the jerk who gets in his way.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey raises an eyebrow, finding it hard to believe an Alpha male -- an <em> attractive </em> Alpha like Ben --  has gone eighteen years without ever having been interested in a girl. She turns away from Poe, still processing his words as she pulls on the old corduroy jacket she’d gotten somewhere down the line, and she almost misses when he adds, “Besides, I have a feeling you like him too.”</p><p> </p><p>She doesn’t respond with anything other than, “Bye, Poe. See you at school tomorrow.” She rushes out of the kitchen and through the dining room and she’s sure her face is red so she’s glad for the cool fall air when she bursts outside. The restaurant is still going in full swing and Rey can hear the noise from inside until the door falls shut behind her and then it is just the quiet of the night and the sound of waves lapping on the channel and Ben Solo is standing there, waiting for her where he said he would.</p><p> </p><p>“Hi,” she says and it sounds breathy and silly and embarrassing to her own ears but it makes Ben smile and <em> that </em> makes her heart flutter again. She doesn’t know what she’s doing here -- forty-eight hours ago all she’d wanted was to be left alone and now she was being drawn towards this unfairly handsome Alpha boy. Clearly, all reason had gone out the window.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” he pushes himself off the railing he’d been leaning against and walks closer. “The ice cream shop will close soon.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure,” Rey says and she follows him as he walks her to the otherside of the street. It occurs to her that she doesn’t have a single penny on her and her stomach churns nervously. What is this isn’t a date? What if he hadn’t been offering to pay? She feels panicky as he holds the door open for her and she stumbles inside.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey,” Ben says and when Rey looks behind the counter, she recognizes the girl working from her geometry class. “What do you want, Rey?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey ignores the curious way she is being studied by her fellow classmate, and eyes the barrels of ice cream behind the counter. The ice cream all looks delicious, especially since she hasn’t eaten since lunch. Her stomach growls and she hears the girl behind the counter snicker and says, “We do triple scoops.” Rey blushes and knows that she’s being made fun of -- and it's a reminder of how little she has, how little she’s <em> worth, </em>that her hunger is never satiated.</p><p> </p><p>“That sounds good. We’ll have two of those,” Ben replies and he steps closer to Rey, “I’ll have vanilla, mint chocolate chip and cookies and cream. Rey?”</p><p> </p><p>She feels a flutter of relief that he’d been the one to step up and order, despite the embarrassment that this girl has tried to inflict on her. She rattles off three flavors and watches the girl scoop everything into two cones. She holds them both as Ben pays and then he holds the door open for her. As soon as he takes his own ice cream, Rey digs into hers by taking a huge bite of the top scoop and next to her Ben cringes. “What?” she asks, chewing on the ice cream.</p><p> </p><p>Ben looks at her like he’s never quite seen anything like her, “You just took a <em> bite </em> of ice cream.”</p><p> </p><p>“So?” Rey asks defensively. “You <em> bite </em> food.”</p><p> </p><p>He laughs at her in a way that doesn’t make her feel embarrassed and reaches for her hand -- the one that isn’t holding her ice cream -- and leads them to the pier. “Did your night get any better?” he wonders.</p><p> </p><p>Rey pauses as she thinks -- yes, it had gotten better after Ben calmed her down. Her nervous jitters were gone and it seemed that all of her klutziness had disappeared with it. “Yeah,” she says and she doesn’t know how to thank him. Had he even known what he’d done?</p><p> </p><p>“Good,” he smiles and licks his ice cream cone. Rey has to force herself to look away and she blushes at the thoughts running through her head at the sight of Ben’s pink tongue. “Are you going to join the team then?”</p><p> </p><p>“I guess,” Rey says, and she thinks that maybe it won’t be so bad. She likes Poe, Kaydel and especially Ben. And, the more time she spends on sports and her part-time job, the less time she’ll have to spend at home with Unkar Plutt.</p><p> </p><p>“Good.” Ben looks relieved and Rey wonders if it's because he likes her or if it’s only because he wants his team to win. When his fingers weave into hers, making their hand holding a little more intimate, Rey wants to think it is the former that is making him smile.</p><p> </p><p>Rey still isn’t sure if this counts as a date and even less confident in what people talked about on dates. She tries to think of something, anything, to talk about to distract her from watching Ben suck on his ice cream. “Your parents seem nice,” she finally settles on.</p><p> </p><p>Ben blushes, “Uh, yeah, sorry if they embarrassed you.”</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head in response. She thinks it's nice that he does things with his family, that they seem so happy. “Did they embarrass you?” she wonders.</p><p> </p><p>“Always,” Ben sighs. “I’m the only child so of course they want to know everything going on in my life. Grades, track, the girl I like…” he looks at her from the corner of his eye and his face gets a little pinker. “What about you? Any brothers or sisters?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey shakes her head, then bites her lip and shrugs. “I don’t know, actually. Maybe I do.” It made her heart ache to think about how she might have a brother or sister somewhere out there. “I don’t have parents. My mom left me at a shopping mall when I was five.”</p><p> </p><p>She doesn’t see what happens, only hears Ben curse, “Shit” and when she looks over, he’s crushed his ice cream cone in his hand. She hands him her napkin and he wipes the mess off his jeans sheepishly. “Sorry…” Rey frowns as she watches him clean up and she feels bad for making the conversation so uncomfortable. “I shouldn’t have told you that.”</p><p> </p><p>“No!” Ben says quickly and he tosses the sullied napkin into the garbage bin near a park bench. “I-I’m glad you did, Rey.” He squeezes her hand and adds, “You can tell me anything.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey’s heart flutters because she’s never had anyone to tell this to -- no one has ever cared and she’s never felt comfortable talking about it. But everything seems to be different where Ben is concerned and she wants him to know everything about her the same way she wants to know everything about him. “Okay.”</p><p> </p><p>He’s silent for a few minutes as if he is unsure of how to continue the conversation or maybe if he even should. “Who do you live with now?”</p><p> </p><p>“With a foster parent. Unkar Plutt. Do you know him?” Rey asks, trying to sound nonchalant about the situation -- it is best, she has learned, to pretend that she doesn’t care no one has ever wanted her.</p><p> </p><p>Ben’s eyes widened, “They gave Plutt a foster kid?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey laughs, but it comes out bitter, “You’d be surprised who they’re willing to give a foster kid.” Plutt isn’t the worst foster parent she’s had by far.</p><p> </p><p>“Rey, that’s awful,” Ben says and it is clear that Unkar Plutt has a reputation around town.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s fine,” she dismisses. “He’s not around much and he’s a harmless Beta…” Rey could rest easily at night knowing that Plutt wouldn’t touch her. </p><p> </p><p>Her designation based comment doesn’t go unnoticed by Ben and he looks so uncomfortable that Rey thinks if he still had an ice cream cone, he’d be accidentally crushing it again. “Yeah, but…”<br/><br/>“It’s fine, Ben. Really,” Rey promises, giving him a small smile. “After this year I’ll age out of the system and then I can get a job and a place of my own. I won’t have to worry about foster parents anymore.”</p><p> </p><p>He frowns, “What about college?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey shrugs, “I mean, that would be nice and all, but I don’t have parents who’ll pay for it. It’s never really been an option. But I’m good with my hands and the pizza place is a good experience…”</p><p> </p><p>He cuts her off, “We’ll win regionals. Then you can get scholarship money. And I’ll help you with entrance essays…”</p><p> </p><p>She thinks he’s so sweet in his earnesty that she doesn’t have the heart to tell him that she really doesn’t care about college. She comes from nothing and has no hope of ever being anything. College and a career and excessive  income were never things she’d dreamed of because it has always been out of reach. As long as she has a roof over her head, a place to call her very own, she doesn’t care about anything else. But the way he is looking at her like <em> he </em> has dreams for her… it makes her feel like she’s going to burst into millions of tiny pieces of happiness. She finishes her ice cream and can feel him watching her until she finally tells him, “I can try.”</p><p> </p><p>The smile he gives her is so brilliant that she has to look away. Her heart is bird and its wings are beating furiously against her ribs, and she wants to kiss him so badly that she doesn’t know where the urge has come from. She has never, ever had someone care so much about her happiness that it brings them happiness. How can something hurt her so much and make her feel so joyful all at once? She’s crying before she even realizes it and Ben’s arms are suddenly around her, “Rey, I’m sorry…”</p><p> </p><p>It’s clear that he doesn’t know what he’s apologizing for and Rey’s  arms are stiff at her sides at first. He smells so nice and it's hard for her not to bury her face against his chest, to nuzzle her nose against the soft cashmere fabric. Her arms wrap around him and Rey thinks this might be the first genuine hug she’s ever had. She turns her head to the side, rubbing her neck along the soft fabric and she shudders when it glides over her gland. She repeats the motion, like a cat satisfying an itch, and Ben’s fingers crawl up into her hair, scratching her head and holding her in place.</p><p> </p><p>She’s scenting him, she realizes -- rubbing her glands all over him like some kind of animal -- and she backs away, feeling embarrassed. “Ben, I-I…”</p><p> </p><p>The horror must be clear on her face, because he holds his hands out towards her. “It’s okay,” he tells her, smiling softly and pulling her back against him. “I like it.”</p><p> </p><p>She doesn’t do it again, too embarrassed even though the Omega in her is preening over the fact that Ben said he <em> liked </em> it. But she does bury her face against the forest green knit and something about her scent and his mixed together is so calming that she feels like she could fall asleep. He holds her close and even though her eyes are closed and her feet are on the ground, she feels like she’s floating and Ben is her anchor. </p><p> </p><p>She isn’t sure how many minutes have passed in his arms and now he’s rocking her gently back and forth and she’s almost positive he’s <em> purring </em>. </p><p> </p><p>Rey Niima has never felt loved in her life until now. Ben doesn’t love her and she’s not foolish enough to think he does -- in this moment, they are lost to their designations -- but Rey hopes for the first time since the Millers, that Ben will love her someday.</p><p> </p><p>“Rey,” he says softly after some time has passed. “Can I kiss you?”</p><p> </p><p>It’s embarrassing because she doesn’t know how to kiss but she remembers what Poe said earlier about Ben’s lack of experience with girls so she nods because she really does want her first kiss to be with him. He puts his finger under her chin and tilts her face up towards his.</p><p> </p><p>His eyes are heavy, his pupils dilated, and she knows then that he’s listening to his Alpha just as much as she is listening to her Omega. He’s still holding her chin as he leans down and presses his lips to hers. His mouth is soft, even softer than the sweater that her fingers are gripping for dear life, and she didn’t know that Alphas could be so soft but then his lips part and she feels the nip of his canines. She gasps, her lips parting and then he’s sucking gently on bottom lip.</p><p> </p><p>Her knees go weak and she clings to him as he clings to the small of her back, pulling her closer. The only thing she can think about is how she never wants this to stop -- she will stand here for the rest of her life, letting Ben Solo kiss her senseless.</p><p> </p><p>“Woooooo! Go Solo!” a voice yells and Rey jumps away from Ben like she’s been electrocuted. Poe Dameron is jogging towards them, laughing and hooting.</p><p> </p><p>He jogs over and throws an arm around Ben’s shoulder as he grins at Rey, “I knew you had it in you, Solo.”</p><p> </p><p>If Rey is embarrassed by the interruption, Ben is <em> furious </em>. He grabs Poe and swings him by the arm straight into the bay. The impact of the splash gets Rey wet and when she shivers, Ben pulls off his coat and wraps it around her as Poe resurfaces, still laughing, “I was just coming over to offer you guys a ride!”</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck off!” Ben tells Poe and guides Rey away from the water. Behind her she hears splashing as Poe pulls himself out of the water. “I’ll walk you home.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey is embarrassed of where she lives because she is positive that Ben lives in one of those fancy waterfront houses -- his clothes and family and life are too perfect not to. She’s already let it slip that she lives with Unkar Plutt though, so she just nods as he takes her hand again. <br/><br/>The walk is mostly silent, save for when Poe drives past, honking his horn and shouting out the window, “Honk if you’re horny!”</p><p> </p><p>“He’s a moron,” Ben grumbles and Rey finds his pouting now as cute as she had earlier that day. Maybe even cuter now that she knew how soft his pouty lips were.</p><p> </p><p>When they get to the shack that Rey calls home, Ben leans down and kisses her again, this time with only a fraction of their earlier intensity. “I’ll see you at school,” he promises and Rey nods. She doesn’t go inside until she can’t see him anymore and when she finally does, she floats to her room and collapses on her bed, falling asleep with a smile on her face and Ben’s coat keeping her warm.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>For the first time ever, Rey is excited about going to school because she actually has someone that she wants to see. She wakes up early to wash her work uniform and eats a piece of bread before she puts on Ben’s coat and heads out the door. School doesn’t start for over an hour, but she’s hoping to get a couple laps in and burn off some of the nervous energy she’s feeling. </p><p> </p><p>When she gets close to the track, she doesn’t have to see Ben to know that he’s there and her heart thunders in her chest in excitement. She sheds his coat and puts her bag down so she can stretch -- she knows he sees her because the steady thump of his feet hitting the gravel slows and she has to fight the urge not to watch him.</p><p> </p><p>As soon as she finishes, she jogs to the track and takes off at a steady pace. It feels good to run and even better to know that Ben’s watching her. She can feel his eyes on her back and knows that it won’t be long before he overtakes her. He’s a strong and fast Alpha, her inner Omega rejoices, and sure enough he comes up along her and says, “Caught you.”</p><p> </p><p>A thrill races through her and she doesn’t know where her reply comes from, “Not yet.” She goes from a jog to a sprint and she feels an excitement she’s never felt before as she listens to his footsteps get quicker. It’s a game she’s subconsciously started and she wants Ben to chase her. To catch her and haul her off and…</p><p> </p><p>She doesn’t know what. All she knows is that her Omega is urging her on faster and faster and Rey whips around the track faster than she’s ever run before. Ben’s behind her, so close she can hear him panting, and then she veers off the track and across the field. She doesn’t know what she’s doing but it feels right -- the wind is in her hair and along her skin and something wonderful is about to happen.</p><p> </p><p>His arms wrap around her and she falls to the ground, but the impact is not existent because he’s somehow managed to cradle her from impact. She’s on her back, looking up at his sweaty face, red from exertion and she grins when he says again, “Caught you.”</p><p> </p><p>He’s nestled between her legs and something is poking her thigh as he brings his face against her neck and nips at her gland. She makes a sound that she’s never made before, a soft chirping sound, and her fingers bury themselves in his hair, holding him against the column of her throat as his nips turn to gentle licks.</p><p> </p><p>It’s his cock, she feels and she knows that she should be scared. She barely knows Ben and he’s on top of her, hard as a rock, but she also knows it’s because of this game she lured him into. He is right where she’d wanted him. “Ben,” she says, and she means it to come out normally, to tell him to stop, but it’s a breathy wanton sound. She wiggles around, because part of her knows that this is too fast and that even if it weren’t, they can’t get caught doing this on the field, but her wiggling nestles him further between her legs and now she can feel the outline of him right against the seam of her shorts and it sends a gush of slick forth. </p><p> </p><p>“Rey,” he breaths, and rocks himself against her. “Are you… God, is that…?”</p><p> </p><p>She knows he can smell it, how aroused she is and she’s so soaked that he must have felt it too and she is so embarrassed that she pushes him away and jumps to her feet. “I… I’ve gotta go…” She sprints away, this time scared that he’s going to chase her, but he doesn’t and that’s a little disappointing, too.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Normally, Rey doesn’t shower at school. She’s too self-conscious about the way her ribs and hip bones stick out and she’d been teased enough about her breasts -- little mosquito bites, they’d been called at her last school. But no one else is in the fieldhouse to see her and she can’t possibly go to class as wet as she is.</p><p> </p><p>When she steps under the water, she hisses because her nerves are so alive that the water is almost too much. There is no soap, so she reaches down between her legs, rubbing away the slick. She has to resist the urge to touch herself, because even worse than being Rockport’s Head of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee would be to be the freak caught masturbating at school.</p><p> </p><p>She makes quick work of it and when she changes into her jeans, she has to make-do with no underwear. She’s just finishing getting dressed when the locker room door opens and she sees Kaydel and Bazine. “Morning,” she says, and she’s too embarrassed to make eye contact.</p><p> </p><p>“Rey!” Kaydel grins, “Running this morning?”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh, yeah. Just wanted to get a few laps in before class,” Rey says as she pulls her damp hair into a bun.</p><p> </p><p>“How was your date with Ben?” Kaydel gushes as she grabs Rey’s arm.</p><p> </p><p>“How’d you know about that?” Rey asks at the same time Bazine asks, “<em> You </em> had a date with Ben?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yep,” Kaydel sings, putting an arm around Rey’s waist. Bazine storms off and Kaydel rolls her eyes, “Ignore her.”</p><p> </p><p>“I planned on it,” Rey mumbled. She knows that Bazine has a thing for Ben and a day ago she would have told Bazine that she could have him. The last thing Rey wants is an enemy. But that was then, and now Rey feels an odd possessiveness over Ben Solo.</p><p> </p><p>“So?” Kay presses with a grin and Rey wonders how she’d found out about the date. Did <em> everyone </em>know?</p><p> </p><p>“He just took me out for ice cream.” She tries to play it off like it’s no big deal, but then she thinks about how nice it had been to be with Ben before they were interrupted by Poe Dameron.</p><p> </p><p>Kaydel claps her hands excitedly. “And?Did you kiss?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey doesn’t answer, choosing to walk away from the blonde, but her blush seems to be answer enough and Kaydel squeals excitedly. “Are you going to have lunch together?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey doesn’t think she can face Ben after their embarrassing encounter this morning so she says, “I’m not sure. We can all have lunch together,” Rey suggests.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure. Same tree as yesterday?” Kaydel smiles and Rey nods. “Cool. See ya at lunch!”</p><p> </p><p>When it’s finally time for English class, Rey loiters in the hall for as long as she possibly can to avoid Ben. She knows that he won’t say anything in class -- he’s too kind for that -- but she’s so sure that he was disgusted by her body’s reaction that she can’t even look him in the eyes as she takes her seat.</p><p> </p><p>He’s fidgeting next to her and it feels like his eyes are burning a hole right through her. At the front of the classroom, Ms. Kanata is droning on and she’s so thankful that the woman won’t take a breath because it is keeping Ben from speaking. The bell rings and Rey is out of her seat so fast that Ben can’t get a word in and she ducks into the crowd in the hallway.</p><p> </p><p>It’s time for lunch and she’s agreed to meet Kaydel outside so she takes it outside with her. Here, even if Ben joins them, he won’t say anything in front of Kay. When she gets there, the blonde already has her lunch and Poe is there too, trying to steal her fries. “Get your own,” Kaydel growls as Rey takes her spot.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, hot lips,” Poe teases Rey and wiggles his eyebrows.</p><p> </p><p>“Leave her alone, knot head,” Kaydel defends Rey, sticking her tongue out at Poe.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re just mad because you can’t take a knot,” Poe shoots back.</p><p> </p><p>“Anyone could take your pea-sized knot,” she rolls her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>Rey drowns out their bickering as she opens her lunch sack and pulls out her sandwich. Today, she’s had to fish from the bottom of the barrel for her lunch -- the sandwich consists of a buttered piece of bread, filled with pickles and folded in half. She’s used to getting creative, and this concoction isn’t bad.</p><p> </p><p>She knows when Ben is coming because the hairs on the back of her neck prickle and when he sits down next to her, she’s so close that she can feel the warmth radiating off of him. She can’t help the way she leans into him as she takes a bit of her sandwich.</p><p> </p><p>“<em> What </em> are you eating?” Bazine shrieks and Rey hadn’t even realized that Ben had brought both her and Hux with him when he joined them. </p><p> </p><p>When Rey looks up, Bazine’s face is shriveled in disgust. “A sandwich,” Rey says and takes another large bite. It isn’t that delicious, but she doesn’t want to give Bazine another reason to make fun of her for being poor.</p><p> </p><p>Ben is watching her, she feels it and when she looks over, he is <em> glaring </em>at her sandwich and she has to beg him silently with her eyes not to say anything. He knows how poor she is, who her foster dad is and why she’s eating a pathetic slice of bread for lunch, but it would kill her for anyone else to know. His face softens, probably because of her desperate expression, and he asks, “You can come over for dinner, right?”</p><p> </p><p>Bazine growls and Rey ignores it, nodding at Ben, “Sure.” She wants to spend time with him and if they are at his house with his parents, she doesn’t have to worry about getting carried away with herself like she had this morning. Pissing Bazine off is an added bonus.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>As hesitant as Rey was to join the team, she can admit after the first practice, that it is actually fun. The coach had brought out hurdles and there was an added layer of exhilaration to running when she had to jump over each obstacle. It felt like she was flying and by the end of practice, she collapsed onto the grace with her new group of friends. “My legs are going to be sore tomorrow,” she complains to Kaydel when the boys stand to go help put the hurdles away.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sure Ben will massage them for you,” Kaydel teases and then snorts when Bazine storms off. “Such a baby.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey shrugs and picks at a blade of grass. “She’s really pretty. Do they… have a past?”</p><p> </p><p>Kaydel makes a gagging noise, “Please. She’s only interested in Ben because he’s the only Alpha she hasn’t been with.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey knows she’s digging and it’s at the risk of being teased that she follows up with, “So he’s never…?”</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Kaydel says. “He’s never had a girlfriend. Or a kiss. Before you.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey finds it hard to believe that someone as cute as Ben has never done <em> anything </em> with a girl. His pheromones are… well, obviously Rey’s body had reacted to him. He could probably have any girl he wanted, including Bazine so she didn’t understand what he saw in her.</p><p> </p><p>“You’re prettier than her, Rey,” Kaydel says, as if she can read Rey’s mind. “Come on…” she stands up and pulls Rey to her feet. </p><p> </p><p>“Where are you guys going?” Ben calls as he watches Kay drag Rey away.</p><p> </p><p>“She’s coming over to my house before dinner,” Kay shouts back and Rey just follows her like a lost puppy.</p><p> </p><p>*****</p><p> </p><p>Kaydel was not kidding when she told Rey that Ben was her neighbor -- their houses are so close that when Rey gets to Kay’s bedroom, the other girl drags her to the window and points across, “That’s Ben’s room.” Rey could spit and it would land in his room and Kay laughs when Rey says this and pulls the curtains closed.</p><p> </p><p>“Here,” she walks to her closet and yanks the door open, pulling several dresses out and draping them across Rey’s arms. “Try those on.”</p><p> </p><p>She feels like a doll, trying each dress on until Kaydel finds one that satisfies her. She lets her new friend play with her hair and put blush on her and Rey <em> likes </em> it because she’s never had a friend to do these things with -- it was like a tv show or something. When she is finally satisfied with how Rey looks, she sends her over to Ben’s house, watching from the porch until Leia opens the door and guides her in.</p><p> </p><p>“Rey, sweetheart, it’s so nice to see you again,” Leia says and guides Rey into the dining room. “What would you like to drink? Ben’s in the shower but he’ll be down soon.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey fights not to think about Ben in the shower as she answers, “Oh, water is fine.”</p><p> </p><p>Leia nods and hurries from the room and Rey looks out the double doors into Ben’s yard. There’s a large treehouse and beyond that, the ocean. She wonders how rich his parents must be to have a house right on the cape like this and she feels nervous about impressing them. Even more so when Leia returns with a flute full of sparkling water. “Thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to see how dinner is coming along,” Leia excuses herself as Ben enters the dining room.</p><p> </p><p>His hair is wet and he’s changed into a button up that makes him look even more handsome than usual. “You look…” he says and blushes as if he’s never given a girl a compliment, “beautiful.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey doesn’t think that’s true but it makes her happy anyway, coming from Ben. “You look nice too.”</p><p> </p><p>Ben clears his throat, “About earlier, Rey…”</p><p> </p><p>Rey thanks God that Ben doesn’t have a chance to finish the sentence when Leia carries a bowl of salad in and Han follows, carrying a lasagna. Ben’s parents sit down and Han takes off the oven mits to serve the lasagna. “It smells really good.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks,” Han says, his chest puffing out with pride and Rey has to hold in a snicker when she notices Leia giving her husband googly eyes.</p><p> </p><p>When the plate is in front of Rey, her stomach growls loudly and Leia says, “Go ahead and eat, dear. I know Ben is always so hungry after practice too.”</p><p> </p><p>It isn’t the practice that’s made her stomach so angry -- it’s days of eating sad sandwiches and whatever else she can scavenge. She won’t tell them that though, so she picks up her fork and starts to eat, trying to take slow and polite bites.</p><p> </p><p>She learns that Leia is a senator and Han does boat tours for tourists in the summer. He’s a ‘stay-at-home-dad’ for the other months of the year and Rey can’t help but feel jealous of the life Ben has had. She won’t hold it against the Solos though, it is not their fault her childhood was shit, and they are so nice to her. Han serves her seconds and thirds and none of them judge her as she shovels more into her mouth.</p><p> </p><p>There isn’t any time to be alone with Ben, and Rey is grateful, even when Ben looks disappointed as Leia offers to drive her home. “I’ll come too,” Ben offers and abandons the dishes he’d been carrying to the kitchen.</p><p> </p><p>“No,” Leia says sternly. “You’ll help your dad with the dishes and then start on your homework.”</p><p> </p><p>Ben sighs and looks longingly at Rey as she puts her shoes on. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yep,” Rey says, giving him a wave. “See you tomorrow.”</p><p> </p><p>Leia’s car is a large black Lexus SUV and Rey has to wonder again how much money they have as she climbs up into the passenger seat. As she starts the engine, Leia says warmly, “You’re welcome to have dinner with us any time, dear.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks,” Rey says and if it were up to her, she’d have dinner here every day, but she knows that isn’t what Leia means. She’s positive that it was an offer made out of politeness.</p><p> </p><p>They’re a few blocks down the road when Leia asks, “Do you have birth control?”</p><p> </p><p>Rey sputters and her hand twitches on the door handle -- they’re going slow enough that Rey thinks she can throw herself from the car and still survive. This is <em> not </em> the conversation she wants to be having with the mother of the boy she’s kind-of-seeing.</p><p> </p><p>“I just ask because Ben mentioned that you’re in the foster system,” Leia continues as if this is a completely normal conversation to be having. “And I can smell that you’re going into heat soon so...”</p><p> </p><p>Rey is not mad at Ben for telling his mother, but she is humiliated so she cuts Leia off and says, “I’m on the pill.”</p><p> </p><p>“The pill?” Leia cries out incredulously and she stomps on the break. Rey jerks forward, glad that she’d remembered to buckle in. “For an Omega?”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s all the state offers,” Rey tells her and she knows why Leia is so angry about it.</p><p> </p><p>“They expect a teenager to remember to take the pill in the middle of a heat?” Leia spits. “Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey has only had a couple of heats and she knows that she will be so out of her mind that she won’t be able to think straight let alone take a pill every day. It’s why she goes into hiding whenever it happens. She can’t risk sex when it will almost definitely lead to pregnancy. Her silence must have stretched on too long because Leia reaches over and pats her hand.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m not angry with you, sweetheart. I’m angry at the system that has put you in this position,” She soothes. “I’ll make an appointment and we’ll get the implant, ok?”</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t afford that,” Rey argues. “It’s fine. I’m not planning on, you know…”</p><p> </p><p>Leia gives her a look, “You scented my son last night.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey blushes and hides her face, “I didn’t mean to.” She can’t imagine the reaction that Ben’s parents must have had when he’d walked through the door drenched in her scent.</p><p> </p><p>“I know you didn’t. It’s instinct and trust me, instinct will strike again when you’re in heat,” Leia tells her. “I will pay for it.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey just nods. Leia is not someone she wants to argue with and part of her knows that Leia has a point. If she’d lost her head enough with Ben this morning, she wouldn’t trust herself when she’s in the throes of a heat. “Okay.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll make an appointment,” Leia tells her as she pulls up in front of Plutt’s house. “Don’t be so embarrassed, sweetheart. I’m an Omega too.”</p><p> </p><p>Rey nods and climbs out of the car. “Thanks, Mrs. Solo.” </p><p> </p><p>Ben’s mom doesn’t drive off until she’s safely inside and as embarrassing as the conversation was, she feels like someone cares. The Solos are kind and she remembers all the times she’s been envious of other peoples’ happy families. Maybe she would be feeling that way right now if it was anyone else’s family, but it’s Ben’s and she feels for the first time like maybe she can belong somewhere.</p><p>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I am blown away by the response the first chapter got! Thank you so much to everyone who left kudos!</p><p>I was actually really sad when this flopped on Twitter because I thought it was a fun little story to tell. I tend to be honest with myself and wrote this off as just not being a very good idea. So it really means so much to me that the first chapter was so well-received. I might have cried a little! XD</p><p>Thank you thank you thank you all!! &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The First Heat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Rey feels like she’s doing something that she shouldn’t be doing when she gets into the SVU parked a few blocks away from the school. “Thanks,” she says softly as she buckles into the car and tries to calm her nerves. She’s never been good with doctors and medical procedures and can only associate her experiences with social workers instead of caregivers and cold, sterile rooms in rundown free clinics.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s my pleasure, dear,” Leia smiles and pulls out onto the road. Ben’s mom is technically a stranger, but there is something warm and reassuring about the older woman that makes Rey relax almost immediately. She’s never had someone who genuinely cares about her health and well-being and although Rey knows on some level that Leia is only worried about her for her son’s sake, she’s willing to fool herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia drives her to the Planned Parenthood two towns over, so that no one sees them together and Rey feels nervous as they walk into the office. She allows Ben’s mom to do the talking as they walk straight to the reception desk and Leia announces,“Hi. My niece here would like to get the birth control implant.”</span>
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    <br/>
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  <span>“Do you have insurance?” the woman behind the desk asks as she glances at them over her glasses and puts a form on a clipboard.</span>
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  <span>Rey shakes her head, “Um, no. I--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’ll pay cash in full,” Leia interrupts as the receptionist hands the clipboard of forms over. Rey thinks that if she’d come by herself, she would have run away already with her tail between her legs, too embarrassed to go through with this entire thing on her own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sit down in the uncomfortable plastic chairs in the waiting room, and Rey does her best to fill out the form and pauses when she gets to the question about her cycle. It’s another one of those moments where Rey realizes she isn’t like other girls with mothers to guide them through adolescence or friends to ask about these things. When she’d first presented, she was given a pamphlet and that was it. Up until this point, she’d only gone through a handful of cycles and she couldn’t begin to understand what a full cycle entailed or how long one was.</span>
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  <span>“You’re about a week off from your next heat,” Leia says in a low voice, nodding down at the paper.</span>
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  <span>Rey blushes and nods, writing it down quickly before moving on to the next question. “How can you tell?” she asks but it's such an embarrassing question that she can’t lift her head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your pheromones are getting stronger,” Leia explains and when Rey’s blush gets brighter, the older woman laughs. “Don’t worry about it so much. It’s perfectly natural…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do I… smell bad?” Rey frets, sinking lower into her chair. Her mind goes automatically to Ben and she wonders if he can smell her and whether he likes it or, like her, is completely clueless about cycles and heats. She knows that Alphas like the way Omegas smell on some primal level, but she hopes it’s like how Ben smells to her -- something she’s drawn to for no real explanation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia chews her bottom lip to keep from laughing and pats Rey’s shoulder soothingly, “No. You don’t smell bad. And it doesn’t matter what </span>
  <em>
    <span>I</span>
  </em>
  <span> think anyway. I’m pretty sure Benny thinks you smell perfect.”</span>
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  <span>Rey groans and lifts the clipboard to her forehead, hiding her face behind it. She can’t believe how blase Leia is about her son’s romantic life. It’s as if she’s perfectly fine with the thought of her son being sexually active.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben’s mother laughs again and pulls the clipboard away from Rey’s face. “You don’t have to be so shy about it. I want you both to feel comfortable coming to me about anything.” Rey can’t help but think about how lucky Ben is to have a mother like Leia and although she would like to say that she isn’t even planning on having sex with Ben, she knows that she can’t truly trust herself around him, especially once she goes into heat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In a span of days, Rey has gone from having zero interest in boys and sex to suddenly thinking about Ben all the time. He isn’t her boyfriend, or at least he hasn’t said so, but Rey feels an odd possessiveness over him that she’s never felt before. At school, she finds herself seeking him out unconsciously, following his scent and tracking him with her eyes when she thinks he isn’t looking. Whenever another girl comes close, her mind spins over a hundred different scenarios -- </span>
  <em>
    <span>does he like her better, is she trying to steal him, will she go away if I growl at her </span>
  </em>
  <span>-- ridiculous thoughts that don’t even feel like her own and yet they crawl forward from some dark recess of her mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At practice, she watches him and she knows he watches her too because every hair stands on end as a primal part of her hopes that he’ll chase her down the way he had before. The thought alone makes her embarrassingly wet for a reason she doesn’t understand and she can only hope that no one else knows how much it affects her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She goes home at night and lays in bed and buries her face against the jacket that he’d loaned her on their ice cream date and the smell alone makes her slip into the most filthy dreams of Ben holding her down and sliding into her and covering her entire body with his Alpha cum. When she wakes up, she’s sweaty and covered in slick from the waist down and has to throw her sheets into the wash. It’s almost torture how much Ben Solo consumes not only her waking thoughts, but apparently her dreams as well. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey brings her forms back to the receptionist and Leia excuses herself to make a phone call. When her name is called, Rey follows the doctor to an examination room and instructs Rey to remove her jacket. She does as she’s told and lays down on the table, lifting her arm above her head as the doctor prepares the underside. “Are you sexually active, Rey?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um, no,” Rey says and then quickly adds, “But I might be soon.” The thought of actually having sex with Ben is wild, especially when they’ve only kissed a few times, but she understands how easy it is to get carried away with him. And it’s clear that Leia thinks so too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“With an Alpha?” the doctor asks, and when she uses a tool to make an incision, Rey grimaces as the stick is inserted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If it happens during your next heat, you should be safe since you’ve been on the pill, but just in case, come in and get tested, ok?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She nods as the doctor puts a bandaid over it and the reminder that she could still get pregnant is almost enough to make Rey panic until the doctor takes her hand and places it over the implant so she can feel it. “Oh…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yep, it’s safe under there and should start working right away. Just make sure you feel for it a couple times in the next day or so and leave the bandage on for now.” She gives Rey a pat on the back as she helps her sit up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Outside in the waiting room, Leia has already paid and is waiting for Rey. She puts an arm around her shoulder and guides her out of the office. “Thank you for doing this Rey. You’re saving me a lot of worry…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey shakes her head, “No. Thank you. I mean, Ben and I aren’t planning on doing anything, I swear…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia laughs, “I know. But things happen and I would feel better knowing that we have all the bases covered.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey climbs into the passenger seat and buckles up, “I can repay you but it’ll take a while.” She really needed to be saving her money for her track expenses, but there was now the added obligation of repaying Leia’s kindness. Maybe she could ask Poe for a couple of his shifts...</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The older woman waves her hand dismissively, “Don’t worry about it, Rey. Even if nothing happens between you and Ben, this is the care that you should be getting. A heat can be a wonderful thing if you have a good partner and you shouldn’t have to go into hiding. I want you to feel safe.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you tell Ben?” Rey asks with a blush because as nice as it is to fantasize about her Alpha, she isn’t sure that she’s ready for sex and if Ben knows maybe he’ll be expecting her to spend her heat with him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course not. It’s between you and me unless you choose to tell him, Rey. You can trust me with anything, ok?” Leia soothes and reaches over to stroke Rey’s head, almost like a real mother might with her own daughter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey nods, “Thanks Mrs. Solo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you hungry? Han is making fried chicken tonight…” Leia says as they pull onto the freeway. In response, Rey’s stomach growls and Leia laughs. “I’ll take that as a yes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben is working on his homework when the front door opens and the click of heels in the hallway signals Leia’s return home. He doesn’t bother looking up from his homework as he greets his mom, “Hey.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Look who I found on the way home.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The hairs on the back of Ben’s neck stand as he catches her scent and when he lifts his head and sees Rey, his face lights up, “Rey. Hi.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” she returns. “Your mom invited me over for dinner. I hope that’s okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t you two do homework until dinner is ready?” and Leia backs out of the room, her face etched with amusement over the awkward sweetness between the two young lovers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah! Sure!” Ben agrees, slamming his book shut and standing up from where he’d been sitting on the floor. “Um, did you finish the reading for English class?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not yet,” Rey shifts awkwardly and she sets her backpack down at her feet as she waits.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben gestures to the spot across the coffee table from him. “We can do it together. I’ll finish up on my math homework while you read and then we can do the study guide together?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey sits on her knees across the table from Ben and when she tosses her hair over her shoulder to lean over and unzip her backpack, he catches a whiff of her scent that would bring him to his knees if he weren’t already sitting. She smells like perfection and it makes the hairs on his arms stand on end. He grips his pencil tight in his hand as he fights the urge to crawl across the table and push her back onto the plush carpet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He thinks about how she’d felt underneath him after he’d caught her on the track field, so soft and warm, and the sweet little noises she’d made for him, and most of all, how warm that place between her legs had been and how wet she’d gotten. He thought about that a lot -- hell, he’d jerked off thinking about it every night since.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The lead in his mechanical pencil snaps as he thinks about it and Rey blushes when she catches him staring. She looks away and opens her book, “Just chapter five, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben nods and licks his lips as Rey sets her book down on the table and starts reading. She plants one elbow on the table and begins absent-mindedly twirling a lock of hair around her finger as she reads and Ben struggles to focus on finishing his math when the object of his every waking thought is sitting right across from him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Like this, he’s free to study every freckle across the bridge of her nose and cheeks and it reminds him of the swirls of constellations in the sky when his dad takes him on their annual camping trip to Acadia. Her lashes are long and wispy, fanning across her cheeks, but what Ben finds most endearing, is the way her brows furrow and her nose wrinkles and her lips move as she reads her book.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s in love, he’s pretty sure. He isn’t ready to admit his feelings to anyone but himself, mainly because he knows people will tell him that he’s too young or that he’s rushing into things, but he knows the truth. Rey was made for him and he couldn’t possibly feel this way about anyone else. He is </span>
  <em>
    <span>her Alpha </span>
  </em>
  <span>and it’s such an undeniable fact that his feelings don’t even scare him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey. His Rey. He wants to know everything there is to know about her so that he can take care of her. It’s an odd thought, the desire to take care of her, but it's one that he can’t seem to shake and he knows that it’s another one of those Alpha things. “Rey,” he murmurs, unable to focus on his math homework with all the Rey-centric thoughts flowing through his brain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stops playing with her hair to look up at him. “Hmm?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where were you last year?” he asks and his body leans over the table towards her as he waits for her answer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean?” The way her eyes dart away makes it clear that she knows what he means and she’s hiding herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben doesn’t like that. He wants all of Rey. “Before Plutt, where were you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“With a different foster family.” She reaches into her backpack and pulls out a packet of paper -- the study guide for English class -- and she flips it open to the page for chapter five. “What happens when Gatsby and Daisy meet at the party?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben reaches over and takes the study guide from her hand. “What happened? With the last foster family?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey frowns at Ben before her eyes fall to her lap and she gives a shrug, one that is meant to look indifferent but comes off as guarded and insecure. “Foster families don’t last. It’s not meant to be forever.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sounds sad, Ben thinks, and he’s about to reach across the table and take her hand when Leia pops her head into the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dinner’s ready.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey stands up quickly and it's clear to Ben that she’s trying to escape. He’s noticed that there is something about Rey that makes Ben feel as though she’s always trying to run away. He watches her back as she follows Leia and he feels inexplicably sad. Maybe he’s afraid he’ll never be able to keep her forever, that she’ll always want to run. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He swallows down his fear and  hurries to her side as she walks into the dining room where Han is loading his plate with fried chicken and Leia leans over to smack his hands, “Save some for Rey and Ben.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ow,” Han grumbles as he sets his plate down. “Fine, fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben snickers at his parents’ arguing and when he looks at Rey, she seems equally amused watching the tiny Omega that is Leia Solo hitting her Alpha husband.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What part do you like, Rey? You’re going to have to pick fast before Han and Ben steal the drumsticks…” Leia jokes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um, whatever is fine,” Rey demures and Leia puts the biggest piece of fried chicken breast on her plate, along with a pile of mashed potatoes, green beans and cornbread. Rey’s stomach growls loudly and Ben puts another piece of cornbread on her plate as she blushes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you kids having fun with track?” Han asks as he bites into his drumstick and when bits of food fly out of his mouth, Leia grabs a napkin and thrusts it out at him with a glare, muttering under her breath about how her husband is an animal.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey nods because she’s too busy eating and Ben adds, “Our first meet is next weekend.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia and Han discuss the logistics of getting Ben and Rey to the meet -- Han is busy taking tourists out for a fall leaf tour and Leia plans to be in DC, so it’s decided that Ben, Rey and Kaydel will take Han’s truck to the meet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey stays out of the discussion, not because she’s disinterested, but because she is busy stuffing her face, and next to her, Ben worries that she’s going to make herself sick gorging on the food. He isn’t stupid -- he knows she doesn’t eat well and his heart clenched during lunch when he’d caught her picking a piece of mold off of her bread. But he also knows that for now, at least, she’s too proud to let him buy her lunch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When dinner is over, Ben drops a subtle hint to his mom, “Since there’s leftovers, maybe Rey can take some?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey’s cheeks turn pink, “Oh, no… you don’t have to…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia waves a hand dismissively, “Please take some. We’ll be eating fried chicken for the next three days if you don’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you’re sure,” Rey reluctantly agrees as she stands to help Leia clear the table.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m positive. You’ll be doing me a favor,” Leia jokes. “You and Ben can get back to your homework. I’m on dishwashing duty tonight.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben leads Rey back to the living room as his parents clear the dining room table. “Does your dad always cook?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben nods as he sits down in his spot. “Yeah. My mom sucks at cooking and my dad likes doing it for her…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey picks up her pencil and remarks, “It's kind of weird for an Alpha…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it?” Ben wonders because it has always just been the way his family worked. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I don’t know… aren’t Omegas supposed to do all the domestic stuff?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben shrugs, “I would cook for you.” His mind drifts to what it would be like to take care of Rey -- to cook her food and give her baths and hold her at night. He would keep her fed and happy. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>wants</span>
  </em>
  <span> to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey’s face goes pink and she clears her throat, “So the homework…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben thinks it's cute how easily flustered she gets, and he wonders if she’s thinking about all the same things he is, but he knows better than to tease her by asking. “Okay, yeah. Question one, then?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They work their way through the study guide for English and then Ben helps her with her calculus homework. They’re finishing up when Leia pops her head in, “Your father and I are going up to bed. Your dad’s keys are in the kitchen so you can drive Rey home at nine. Don’t forget to take the leftovers.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Goodnight, Mrs. Solo,” Rey nods and Ben doesn’t miss the wink his mother sends Rey.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she’s gone, Ben closes his book and suggests, “Do you want to watch TV?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Rey agrees as she packs up her bag  and he waits until she’s settled on the couch before he takes the spot next to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Will your foster dad care that you’re out this late?” Ben wonders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey shrugs, “He doesn’t care what I do. He probably wouldn’t care if I don’t come home at all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben wants to tell her she can stay the night and the words are so appealing that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>almost</span>
  </em>
  <span> does, but he knows it's impossible. His parents aren’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> cool. “Then you can stay until 9?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Relief spreads through Ben -- he isn’t sure what he would have done if she’d wanted to go home. He turns on some stupid tv show and puts his arm around the back of the sofa. What he </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> wants to do is wrap an arm around Rey’s shoulder but he isn’t sure of himself enough to try. He doesn’t have Poe Dameron’s confidence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you comfortable?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey nods, but her unblinking attention is on the TV screen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want something to drink?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She glances over at him, “I’m fine, Ben.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay. Good. Good.” He isn’t sure what else to say, but if Rey is happy, then so is he. He turns his attention to the tv, and by the next commercial break, Rey’s body is leaned into his so closely that her head is almost on his shoulder and he thinks that he wouldn’t mind if she did use him as a pillow. His heart is beating fast in his chest and he feels excited at the thought of how she’d been drawing closer to him without even knowing it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She feels the same way, he thinks. She’s as drawn to him as he is her and that gives him the confidence he needs to rest his cheek against the top of her head. This time, he does put his arm around her shoulder and he pulls her against him as he whispers her name into her hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey melts against him, and she lets out a burst of that same chirping sound she’d made when he’d nuzzled her gland on the track field at school.. An arm wraps around his waist as she curls into him, and she rubs her neck along his arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s scenting him, rubbing her pheromones along the fabric of his sleeve, and it gives Ben that same warm, fuzzy feeling it had last time she’d done it. He hadn’t understood at the time, not until Han had taken him aside and explained to him that Rey was marking him as her territory.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t mind. In his mind, he’s already Rey’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He rubs his nose against her scalp and breaths her in -- he still smells that floral, fresh rain scent -- but underneath that, there’s something heady and perfect and all the blood in his body rushes straight to his dick. He has to take a pillow and cover his lap before she sees.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she’s finished rubbing her glands against his shirt, she presses her nose into the fabric and chirps happily when she smells herself there. “Rey,” he breathes, because he can barely speak with how enamored he feels -- she’s so sweet and perfect.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She lifts her head, and he likes the look in her eyes; the shy, unsure Rey is gone. He sees </span>
  <em>
    <span>his </span>
  </em>
  <span>Omega there, bright-eyed and playful and he wants to make her happy so that she can always look this beautiful. He leans down and seals her lips in a kiss.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sighs contentedly against his mouth, and when he opens his own to breath in her happiness, their tongues meet in a languid kiss. Her fingers slide into his hair, her nails scratching along his scalp and all Ben can think is </span>
  <em>
    <span>love. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Love. He loves Rey.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He pushes the pillow out of his lap and pulls her into it, and she brackets her knees on either side of his thighs. The kiss breaks when he pulls his head back and he looks up at her as she looms above him, her lips swollen and parted and begging to be kissed as she purses them into a pout. His arms wrap around her waist and he pulls her down flush against him so that she’s seated on his lap and then leans into her so that she tips back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben,” she whines, her fingers still in his hair. “I…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He lowers his head, nipping at her chin before ducking down to slide his tongue along her throat. His lips find her gland like it calls to him, and he thinks, as he closes his lips around it, that maybe it does.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She turns to liquid as he sucks her gland and when the voice in his head urges him to bite, he moves away to suck purple marks all over the skin of her throat. His lips keep moving back to her gland, where her taste and scent is so strong and sweet. He’s getting drunk off of her, he thinks and if the smell of her had made him excited earlier, it was nothing compared to how unbearably hard he is now. His only saving grace is that everytime his tongue passes over her gland, Rey rolls her hips against his.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alpha,” she pants and when she presses herself fully against him, he can feel how warm and wet she is. If he looks down, he’s sure that her slick would be soaking through her jeans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he thinks. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I did that.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His hands slide from her waist to her hips, holding her against his stiff cock. He can still feel the dampness of her and he wants her to feel exactly what she’s done to him in return, to let her feel what is hers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey’s head falls back. “Oh…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey,” Ben groans, and he’s got his hands on her hips, moving her back and forth across his erection. “You, ah, is it…?” He isn’t even sure what he’s trying to say but she nods her head anyway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I like it,” she breathes and he can feel her thighs quiver. What she likes, he isn’t sure -- what they’re doing, him, his cock… he hopes it's all of those things.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His lips go to her neck again, sucking at her gland and when he takes it between his teeth and squeezes lightly, not quite hard enough to break the skin, she slaps a hand over her mouth and her entire body convulses. It takes him a minute to realize what’s happened, that he’s given her an orgasm, and when he does his chest puffs with pride.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She collapses against him and hides her face against his neck as she tries to control her breathing. Ben soothes her by sliding his hands up and down her back and kissing whatever he can reach -- her hair, her ear, her shoulder. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s embarrassed, he can tell by the way she refuses to lift her head, and the longer she goes without saying anything at all, the more worried he gets. “I’m sorry,” she finally mumbles against his shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wants to ask what for, but instead he huffs out a laugh and says, “I’m not.” When he realizes that what he’s said makes him sound like a jerk, he adds, “I like you, Rey. You don’t have to be embarrassed about it because I hope it won’t be the last time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s still too shy to lift her head but her breath against his skin as she whispers makes him shiver, “I like you too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good,” Ben says and he squeezes her against him. He feels content in a way he can never remember feeling, like everything in the world is right and perfect. Things that he had always wanted -- his track scholarship, Harvard, becoming a senator -- suddenly make no sense at all without Rey by his side.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben?” Rey mumbles against his shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you purring?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He blushes and the rumbling sound from his chest tapers off. “Sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey finally lifts her head and the expression on her face is so gentle that it nearly takes his breath away. “I like it. It makes me sleepy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben laughs but then catches sight of the clock. “Shit, we have to go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey’s eyes widen when she sees that it’s almost 9:30 and she scrambles to get off his lap. “Oh. Yeah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He grabs her leftovers and leads her to the car, opening the door for her the same way his dad often did for Leia -- it was something Han had told him once that </span>
  <em>
    <span>all</span>
  </em>
  <span> women appreciated. Rey climbs in and he closes the door, jogging around the side to climb into the passenger seat. “Do you drive?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey shakes her head, “I never learned.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My dad can teach you. He’s a good driver,” Ben offers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t want to be a burden,” she says with a shake of her head and she turns her attention out the window as if the conversation is embarrassing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not a burden. Han would love it. Besides, families do those things for each other…” Ben explains without really thinking too deeply about it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, but they’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>your</span>
  </em>
  <span> family. Not mine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben shrugs, “But you’re my girlfriend.” He doesn’t realize what he’s said until the silence becomes awkward. “I mean, if you want to be…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Rey squeaks. “Yes, I want to be.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Even though the interior of the car is dark and there are no streetlights on the road leading up to Rey’s tiny shack of a home, he can tell that her face is bright red. Maybe his is too. He clears his throat. “Oh, Good. That’s good.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he pulls up outside of her house, Rey leans over and kisses his cheek before she jumps out and runs up the driveway. He’d had the full intention of walking her to the door, but she’s so quick that he can only touch his cheek and watch as she disappears inside.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey has a boyfriend. She has a boyfriend and she can barely contain her happiness over it. She thinks about it all morning and finds herself doodling ‘Ben’ in the margins of all her notebooks. Any resolve she’d had to spend her senior year in peaceful solitude, to squeak by until she aged out of the system… all of that was gone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s something in the back of her mind that gnaws at her all day whenever she thinks about him -- a feeling she can’t quite put a name to and it isn’t until she sees Ben at lunch that she suddenly realizes that it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>belonging. </span>
  </em>
  <span>In all her years, with no real friends and no loving family, she’d never felt like she belonged. Or that anything had belonged to her, for that matter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then she sees Ben, sitting under the tree at lunch laughing at something Hux is saying. His hair blows in the wind and Rey’s heart beats faster because all she can think about is how he looks like the living embodiment of an angel. As she walks towards him, their eyes meet and he smiles and Rey just thinks, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mine. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sits down next to him and he holds out his french fries in offering and Rey returns his gooey smile as she takes one and starts to munch on it. She’s got a tuna sandwich in her backpack, but the fries are so much more appealing, especially when offered by her </span>
  <em>
    <span>boyfriend.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh. My. God,” Kaydel gasps and when Rey turns to look at her, she is shaking with mirth. “Rey, your neck…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What about it?” Rey’s eyes widen and she reaches up to touch her neck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Beside Kaydel, Hux and Poe burst out laughing. “God, Solo. What did you do?” Poe wheezes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey looks over at Ben and when she sees his blush, Rey realizes that her neck must be covered in hickies. She pulls her hair over her shoulder, mussing it until the bruises are hidden.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you guys dating now?” Kaydel asks excitedly and when Ben nods, she squeals with excitement and throws her arms around Ben. “So cute, my little Benny all grown up with a girlfriend…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben is trying to push Kaydel away and it’s amusing enough that Rey almost misses when Bazine stands up and storms off. Almost. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s fine,” Poe assures Rey with a whisper and an eyeroll.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She isn’t worried for Bazine, but rather about what she might do. Now that Rey has Ben, she doesn’t want to lose him and she knows that Bazine can’t possibly feel the way she does about him but that does nothing to abate the feeling of unease that rises up when Bazine glares over her shoulder at Rey.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She keeps those fears buried where no one else can see them as she eats the rest of Ben’s fries while he wrestles with Kaydel and her incessant teasing and then Rey finishes off his milk as Hux joins in the play-fight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey is in sixth period when she starts to feel sick and at first she thinks maybe it was Ben’s disgusting french fry and chocolate milk combo (not that she’d complained at the time). She feels hot, which makes her feel dizzy and nauseous, and it’s hard to pay attention to chemistry when she feels like she might pass out at any minute.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the back of her mind, she worries childishly about being pregnant, but dismisses the idea as foolish because they hadn’t actually had sex. She is fairly sure that Ben hadn’t even… finished. She’s not pregnant but she feels for the implant in her arm anyway.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When her skin starts to itch, she remembers that she’s approaching her heat and stealthily pulls out her planner. She’s still almost five days away and when she glances around the room at all of her oblivious classmates, she thinks that she’s in the clear there too. Someone would have smelled her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bell rings, signaling the end of the last class, and Rey rushes to the field house to change into her running clothes. She’ll feel better after a run, she tells herself, but when she gets to the field, Bazine drops the conversation she’s having with Hux to turn to Rey, “Ugh, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>stink.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” She holds a hand over her nose and backs away, “Are you going into heat?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” Rey defends herself, “Not yet.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You are,” Bazine gags.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s probably because Solo has been mauling you,” Hux snickers and because he’s a beta, he doesn’t smell anything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Poe comes jogging up, however, his eyes widen and he licks his lips. “Woah…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, she smells like a dirty cunt,” Bazine complains, lifting her shirt over her nose, and Rey is overcome with the urge to punch her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey, maybe you should go home,” Hux suggests and Rey is too busy glaring at Bazine to notice the way Poe’s pupils have dilated or how his chest is heaving as he sucks in lungfuls of her scent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine. I don’t need --” Her words are cut off as Poe lunges towards her and Hux grabs her arm, pulling her safely behind him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Poe, buddy…” Hux warns and when Kaydel jogs over he turns to her desperately, “Go get Ben.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey hides behind Hux as Poe tries to push him out of the way. “Hux. Give. Me. the. Omega,” Poe growls and Rey’s stomach churns. This isn’t her friend Poe talking. He’s scaring her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Poe, you need to think straight, man,” Hux tries to reason. He’s protecting Rey with one arm and using the other to try to push Poe back. “She’s dating Ben. Remember?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Omega is unmated,” Poe says and he sucks in more air, peering over Hux’s shoulder to where Rey is cowering. “She’s in heat.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey wants to run but there’s a voice in her head telling her not to -- where there had been a thrill with Ben chasing her, there was only fear with Poe. She’d let Ben chase her and catch her because her instinct had </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be his prize. If she runs, if Poe catches her, he’ll take her as a prize. “Poe, no. Please…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What is going on here?” Ben’s voice trails off and when he catches Rey’s scent, his voice drops into a warning growl as he creeps towards Poe. “Back off, Dameron.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Poe glances over at Ben, as if deciding whether or not he’s a threat. Whether he should take his chances with Rey. Ben, in the meantime, has already decided that Poe needs to be handled and he charges at him, tackling him to the ground. “Mine!” he growls, baring his teeth at his friend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bazine!” Hux calls. “Go get coach!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bazine, who has been watching the scene with wide eyes, nods and takes off towards the field house as Ben and Poe roll around on the ground trying to punch each other.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hux,” Kaydel says softly as she crouches and puts an arm around Rey. “Let’s take Rey home…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hux helps Kay and the two Alphas are so distracted fighting each other that they don’t notice Rey leaving. She’s quiet as she climbs into Hux’s car and Kaydel smoothes her hair out. “Ben will be fine,” she assures Rey. “The coach will break up the fight. Let’s just get you somewhere safe, okay?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rey nods, but her head feels too fuzzy to think straight. As they drive away, Rey curls into a ball on the backseat and cries. She just wants Ben.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben has a fat lip and a black eye, but when he glances over at Poe a few chairs down, he realizes that he got out of it lucky. Poe’s got a broken nose and a nasty gash across his forehead that probably should have gotten stitches. When their eyes meet, they both look away sheepishly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Obviously, they need to be punished,” Leia agrees as she argues with the principal. “But they’re two young Alphas who got close to an Omega in heat. You can’t expel them for following their instincts.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The principal sighs and looks at both boys before turning to Leia, “I have to set an example. They could have killed each other.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, Ben could have killed </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span>, anyway,” Poe jokes and winks at Ben before lifting an ice pack to his nose.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben snorts. Poe is a good friend, and he does feel a little bad for going in so hard. If he’d been thinking straight, he wouldn’t have fought him at all, but that was the issue. Neither of them were thinking straight. Rey had smelled so ripe that it had been impossible to think about anything but sex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This isn’t funny!” Poe’s mom hisses at both of them and they do their best to hide how amused they are.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In school suspension,” the principal finally relents. “Three days. And library duty during lunch period.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes sir,” Both Ben and Poe agree.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>As they all file out of the principal’s office, Poe offers Ben his hand. “I’m sorry, man. I swear I wasn’t thinking straight. I wouldn’t have ever tried anything if I had been…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine,” Ben says because he knows that Poe would never do anything to Rey. Besides that, he doesn’t think Rey would </span>
  <em>
    <span>let</span>
  </em>
  <span> Poe do anything. She’s so skittish and quick that she could have handled the situation herself. He snorts at the thought but his smirk falls into a frown. Rey. Where was she?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You should go find her,” Poe suggests, lowering his voice so that their parents don’t hear. “She’s gotta be nesting at home. Probably waiting for you.” He waggles his eyebrows suggestively.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben squeezes Poe’s shoulder and says, “See you tomorrow,” before jogging to catch up with Leia. “Can you take me to Rey’s?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Leia agrees and then gives her son a stern look. “Only to apologize. I’m sure you scared that poor girl.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Something heavy weighs Ben down at the thought of Rey being scared of him. He argues with Leia, “I didn’t scare her. Poe did.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You </span>
  <em>
    <span>both</span>
  </em>
  <span> did,” Leia shoots back. “I’m so disappointed in you. That isn’t how you treat your Omega. Fighting over her like a piece of meat.” His mother clicks her tongue in annoyance as she climbs into her car.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben frowns. He doesn’t think he was treating her like a piece of meat. He was only trying to protect her from Poe. But maybe she hadn’t needed protection. Now that he’s thinking clearly, he’d already acknowledged that she most likely could have handled the situation herself. Or at the very least, could have prevented a fight between friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia sighs as if she can hear what her son is thinking as he climbs into the passenger side. “She has a mind of her own and she already chose </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. The right thing to do would have been to take her somewhere safe. And instead, you let your aggression get in the way of taking care of her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben’s heart sinks as he realizes what a bad Alpha he’s been to Rey. “I have to apologize.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia nods. “You do.” She starts the car and instead of driving home, she steers the vehicle towards Rey’s house on the west side of town. She barely has time to put the car into park before Ben is jumping out and jogging up the steps to the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia follows him as he knocks -- she wants to make sure Rey is okay and doesn’t need anything. She thinks if what Ben’s told her is true, they should have brought her some snacks to get her through it. But the best case scenario would be if she wants Ben and then they can take her somewhere safer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Plutt answers the door and he gives Ben an unimpressed look, “What do you want?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, hello. Hi. Is Rey home?” Ben asks nervously. Unkar Plutt is a very off-putting man.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Haven’t seen her,” Plutt says, scratching his oversized belly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia frowns, “Are you sure?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Plutt takes a drink from his beer and gestures at the house, “Take a look at my house, lady. It’s two rooms. You think I wouldn’t notice a little girl in there?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I just check her room and see --” Ben begins but Leia takes his arm and nudges him down the steps.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, Mr. Plutt. If you see her, ask her to call Leia or Ben.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Plutt grunts and shuts the door. Ben turns to his mother incredulously, “Mom, we should at least look in there and--”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t you call your friends and make sure they dropped her off here? Maybe she’s with Kay or something?” Leia suggests as they climb into the car.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a good idea and Ben pulls out his cellphone to call his neighbor and he’s got his fingers on one hand crossed. “Kay? Where is Rey?” he asks as soon as she picks up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh hey, Ben. Is Poe okay?” is the first thing out of her mouth and Ben is unsurprised. Of course, she’d be worried about Poe’s stupid pretty face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s fine,” Ben says dismissively. “Maybe you should call him and offer to go over and kiss his boo-boos.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gross!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben rolls his eyes and brings the attention back to why he called, “Where is Rey?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Hux and I dropped her off at her house,” Kay informs him. “We thought she’d want to be somewhere familiar.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She isn’t there.” Ben hopes his voice doesn’t sound as panicked as he feels. “Did she say anything about going somewhere else?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No. Do you want help finding her?” Kaydel’s voice is filled with worry and it makes Ben feel even more anxious.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about it,” Leia speaks up after listening in. “Just let us know if you hear from her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Ben hangs up, he looks at his mom in disbelief, “Aren’t you worried?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia gives him a sympathetic look and reaches over to pat his hand, “Of course I’m a bit concerned. But she’ll be fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean, she’ll be </span>
  <em>
    <span>fine</span>
  </em>
  <span>? Shouldn’t we search for her? Or call the police?” Ben asks, and he’s starting to feel cagey.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The police won’t do anything. She’s an Omega who’s gone into heat. She wouldn’t be considered missing because she ran off to nest somewhere,” Leia explains. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Somewhere?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Ben asks, the disgust evident in his voice. “Where would she go? What if she’s outside? What if some Alpha finds her and…” He swallows hard. He doesn’t want to think about that. It hurts too much. He has to find her. He yanks on the handle of the car door but the child locks are on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben,” Leia says calmly. “I need you to calm down, okay? Some Omegas do this when they’re in heat. She’s still not familiar with this town and she’s gone off to find somewhere safe. She’ll come to you if she wants you, otherwise we’ll just have to wait a few days.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben shakes his head. He can’t wait a few days. He needs to find Rey now. Suddenly, he feels hot and anxious and so angry. “Let me out. I want to look for her,” he yanks on the handle again and when the door doesn’t budge, he kicks at it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Benjamin Solo,” Leia shouts. “You stop that!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He isn’t listening. Everything inside of him is telling him to find Rey, to help her make her nest and take care of her and bring her food. He has to make sure she’s okay. He claws at the door handle desperately.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia digs around in her purse for her phone and calls her husband, “Han. I’m almost home. I need you to meet me in the garage. Your son is going into rut and I need help.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Leia pulls in and turns off the engine, the child safety locks disengage and Ben leaps from the car but Han is there to tackle him to the ground and as he sits on his son’s legs, he asks, “Can anyone explain to me what the hell is going on?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey went into heat and ran off to nest,” Leia explains. “And now your son is going crazy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Han sighs as he grabs Ben by the back of his shirt and lifts him up, nudging him towards the door as he kicks and growls. “I told you that leaving them alone last night was a bad idea.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia rolls her eyes, “Having a son that takes after his neanderthal father was a bad idea.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben paces back and forth in his room. It’s well past midnight but he can’t sleep. He’s so angry and he’s got a raging erection but he refuses to touch it because he needs to save it in case Rey comes to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thinking about her makes his heartache. He remembers what his mom said, that if Rey wanted him she would come, but she hasn’t. She doesn’t want him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s a bad Alpha.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He starts pacing again, from one end of his room to the other and it’s wearing a tread in the rug. In his pocket, his cell phone buzzes and he pulls it out in case it’s Rey, but it’s just Kaydel asking if he’s okay. He’s not. He’s going crazy, he’s sure of it, and Rey is literally the only thing that will calm him down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shouldn’t have fought Poe -- he thinks that’s where he went wrong. Maybe if he’d taken Rey home, she would have let him come inside. Maybe she would have let him watch her build a safe little nest. She would have invited him in and he would have taken good care of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He imagines her laid out in her nest, naked and dripping with slick. She’d spread her legs to show him how soft and pink her cunt is and beg him to fill her up. He’d give her what she wants, and he’d make it good for her too and when she begs for his knot, he’d make sure to give it to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben groans and slaps a hand down on his desk so hard that it cracks the wood. He’s been ignoring his physical needs for so long that the </span>
  <em>
    <span>thought </span>
  </em>
  <span>of being with Rey causes him to make a mess in his pants.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He strips down to nothing and continues pacing. He doesn’t sleep and he doesn’t go to school the next day either. The only thing he really wants is to know that Rey is safe, even makes him curl into a ball and cry at the thought that she doesn’t want him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So I upped the chapter count from 6 to 8 :/ Sorry! I thought it would probably end up being 3 chapters in the past, 3 chapters in the future but it's looking like I'll need at least 4 chapters in the past (and maybe possibly 5??). I will re-evaluate the chapter count again when we're done with teenage Rey and Ben :)</p><p>Thank you so much for the kind comments last chapter and for anyone who retweeted it! &lt;3 I still can't believe the response this has gotten!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Alpha</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When Hux pulls up to Rey’s house, Kaydel jumps out and helps Rey from the backseat, wrapping her in a hug and guiding her towards her house. “Wait here,” she tells Hux, mostly because she doesn’t know how Rey will react if Hux goes into her room. Really, Kaydel doesn’t know anything about Omegas -- her entire family has produced Beta after Beta for generations.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey is still crying, shaking in Kaydel’s arms as she opens the front door. Inside, the little house is a mess and Kaydel has to fight the urge to cover her nose. There are empty beer cans throughout the living room and as she guides Rey down the only hallway, there are half-full takeout containers lining every available surface. She wonders how Rey can live like this and has to remind herself that her friend has no choice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is this your room?” Kaydel asks and she nudges the door open when Rey nods. She’s never had to care for an Omega before, but she has a feeling that leading Rey towards her bed is the best idea.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey sinks onto the mattress and curls into the fetal position, wrapping her arms around her middle like she’s in pain and it makes Kaydel slightly panicked. “Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey nods again and shivers as Kaydel pulls a blanket over her. “Do you need me to get you anything? Should I call Ben?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, Ben,” Rey croaks out and her voice sounds a little desperate as her eyes glaze over. She blinks a few times and then shakes her head. “No. No. Don’t get Ben. I just… I need…” Rey swallows hard like she isn’t sure what exactly she needs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kaydel doesn’t know either; she’s seen cheesy tv shows with Omegas, but she doesn’t know how much of what she’s learned there is true -- do Omegas really nest and hoard away food? Should she get Ben even though Rey had asked her not to? Didn’t Omegas </span>
  <em>
    <span>need</span>
  </em>
  <span> an Alpha?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want me to go?” Kaydel asks gently because she doesn’t know what else to do for her friend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey nods again and when she worms her way under the blankets, Kaydel thinks it must be an Omega thing. She’s aware of what will happen to Rey, how sex-crazed Omegas can get, and she has no desire to witness it so she backs out of the room and makes a beeline for the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey burrows under the covers and tries to sleep, but her skin is hot and itchy and there is a steady throb between her legs that she knows will only go away if she touches herself. She can’t -- not here -- it isn’t safe. She doesn’t know what is telling her that it’s not safe, but she feels scared. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Not here, </span>
  </em>
  <span>her Omega brain tells her. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Go. Go.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe if she’d been thinking clearer, she would understand what her Omega really wanted, but all she could think about is Plutt coming home and finding her like this. Or worse, Poe coming back to get her. The thought forces her out of bed and she stumbles around her bedroom, gathering her blankets and sheets from her bed. She dumps out the contents of her backpack and proceeds to shove all of her bedding inside. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Food. She needs food but her skin is crawling and her stomach twists in unease as her Omega brain tells her there is no time. She has to get somewhere safe before someone finds her. She had been naive with Mr. Miller but she wasn’t going to let anything like that ever happen again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She steps out of the house and hefts her backpack onto her shoulders as she contemplates where she’s going to hide to wait out her heat in safety. There were safe havens in Boston, but she was too far gone to risk hitch hiking or trying to drive herself and she curses at her stupidity in sending Kaydel away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey edges towards the narrow road in front of the house but freezes when her instinct tells her it’s too dangerous. She knows that Poe lives on the same stretch of highway and the thought of him driving along it and finding her makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She backs away from the blacktop and circles around the house, eyeing the woods behind it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s an old junkyard that Plutt used to run before the city shut it down and though it's overgrown with trees and weeds, it's as good a place as any to hide. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s halfway across the overgrown crabgrass of the lawn when a cramp hits her so hard it brings her to her knees and when she presses her face against the cool ground, it’s the only relief she receives as her eyes water with tears. “Help,” she sobs to the earth but there’s no one to hear her and no one to help. Ben would help if he were here, and again she’s so angry at herself for telling Kaydel not to bring him. The Omega tells her he’ll come and part of her wants to believe it, but she’s too afraid of someone else finding her first.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> She struggles to her knees and crawls the rest of the way into the line of trees and when she meets the tall fencing that surrounds the old junkyard, she grips the chain-link and uses it to hoist herself to her feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s sweaty and panting and she aches all over, mostly between her legs, but she pushes that pain from her mind as  she takes off her backpack and pushes it through an opening in the fence. Once it falls to the ground, she squeezes herself in through the same hole. It’s a tight squeeze and she feels a sharp edge of steel dig into the fleshy underside of her arm and then when she wiggles in further the pain shoots down the length of her right side and she hisses in pain. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she makes it all the way through, her shirt is torn and Rey is positive that her face is wet with tears and snot but she can’t sit around and cry until she’s somewhere safe -- it’s all she can think about as she stands up again and drags her backpack along the ground behind her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her heart beats faster as she passes through rows of rusted out appliances -- dishwashers, refrigerators and old stoves from the fifties. She finds a bathtub that she thinks would be comfortable but her side is bleeding and it’s so rusty that what little sanity she’s clinging to knows that it’s a recipe for tetanus so she continues on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a row of cars and she yanks on the handles of every single one that she passes, growing increasingly frustrated to find them all locked. She’s about to scream in frustration and then, her gland tingles -- the same way it always does when Ben touches her and her feet move her along until it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>throbbing </span>
  </em>
  <span>the way it only ever has when his lips have been on it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stops in front of a black thunderbird straight from the early eighties and her gland tingles so much that she’s compelled to reach up and scratch it. The driver’s window is partially down on this one and she’s able to squeeze her arm inside to pull up on the locking mechanism. It's painful and she has to stand on her tiptoes to reach but she’s rewarded for her efforts when the door swings open and she climbs inside. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The interior is all blood red leather and velvet and a pair of gold dice hangs from the mirror -- she’d swear the car belonged to a porn star from the 80s but when she looks in the backseat, she finds a baby car seat strapped in. Rey climbs into the backseat and unbuckles it, pushing it onto the floor as she opens her backpack and the need to nest takes over. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her sheets come out first and she strings them along all the windows, carefully closing the doors on them to hold it in place to create a privacy curtain where no one can peer inside and find her. Then she lays out her comforter along the length of the entire back seat, arranging and rearranging until she gets it just right and then as soon as she settles, she shoves her hand down her track shorts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s so wet and overly-sensitive that it takes no time at all for her first orgasm and she keeps rubbing until a second one hits, sliding her hand lower to shove her fingers deep enough to satisfy her needs. It’s not perfect, but it does the trick and as she catches her breath, her mind becomes a little clearer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She thinks of Ben and hopes that he isn’t hurt. He’s bigger than Poe and faster so she’s more worried about how much trouble he’s in than whether or not he’s badly injured. Guilt creeps up on her because if she’d been more careful and paid closer attention to the signs, she would have realized she was going into heat. Instead, she put herself and Ben and even Poe into a dangerous situation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She buries her head in the blankets and groans. She’ll apologize to them all as soon as this is all over with -- three days if she’s lucky. She sits up and roots around in her backpack, suddenly remembering that she’d completely forgotten to pack food and a quick peek through the windows at the darkening sky tells her that Plutt is probably home. She won’t risk going back for food because even though Plutt is a Beta, the memories of Mr. Miller are still too fresh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She needs a distraction until the next wave of heat craze takes over so she crawls out of her nest to the front seat. Maybe the keys are somewhere inside and she can listen to the radio. She checks the visor and then the glove compartment, but the only thing inside is an owner manual and a bunch of paperwork so she grabs it and climbs into the back seat again. At least she has something to read, even if it is boring.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sifts through the papers first and when she finds the vehicle registration, she almost laughs at the irony: Han Solo. This car belonged to Han. Which meant that the car seat could only have belonged to Ben. She sets aside the paperwork and crawls to the baby carrier, lowering her face against it and breathes in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s Ben, lighter and more subdued than he is now -- the muskier undertones aren’t there -- but she feels dizzy from the scent and she curls into her nest as her brain conjures up the image of a chubby little baby Ben in the car seat; dark curls and honeyed eyes and a dimpled toothless smile. She wonders if his skin was even smoother then and dotted with the same moles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She could almost curse herself for thinking too deeply about it, because it made her think about what </span>
  <em>
    <span>their</span>
  </em>
  <span> babies would look like and her Omega likes the idea way too much. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes</span>
  </em>
  <span> it hisses at her from a dark corner of her mind. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes. Find Ben and make babies.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The urge is strong. She’d dragged herself to the junkyard, she could certainly find a way to drag herself to Ben’s doorstep. But no, she couldn’t risk someone else finding her first. What if another Alpha…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her Omega shrinks back, refusing to stick around long enough to hear about some other Alpha and </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> babies and Rey thinks she has to agree. If she can’t have Ben, she doesn’t want anyone else. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her only hope is that Ben finds her and she wants to be prepared if that happens so she shucks off her shorts and her top -- just the thought of Ben finding her naked and vulnerable has her body singing and she presses her cheek against the faux suede fabric of the carseat as she traps a section of her comforter between her thighs, rubbing herself against it until she orgasms again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Three nights pass and when Rey wakes up on the fourth morning, she feels like what she can only imagine being hung-over feels like. Her entire body aches from how overzealous she’d been and the entire inside of the car reeks of slick and hormones. It’s enough to make her gag, but because she hasn’t eaten anything at all, she just dry heaves until she manages to get the car door open and suck in some fresh air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In her desire for fresh air, she has launched herself onto the ground and it’s wet and the cold. The New England fall air has caused all the fallen leaves on the ground to be covered in a layer of hoar frost that makes Rey jolt and shiver when she tumbles onto it. She’s naked, she realizes and climbs back into the car long enough to pull on her shorts, shirt and socks. Her stomach rumbles and now that her brain isn’t consumed with mating, she recognizes that curdling sensation in her stomach as hunger. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She grabs her blanket and wraps it around her shoulders as she climbs out of the car and stumbles towards the hole in the fence. She’ll come back for her other things later, when she’s had food and some rest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With the blanket wrapped around her securely, she manages to squeeze through the hole without the same injuries as last time and takes her time moving through the forest -- when she walks too fast, she feels dizzy and she has to lean against a tree until her vision stops blurring and she can continue walking. She makes it through the woods and when she finally sees Plutt’s house, her stomach growls loudly and her mouth waters at the thought of food so close. She doesn’t even care if all he has is canned baked beans and moldy bread.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she gets close enough to the house, she wants to cry with relief and then she hears a car door open, “Rey!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hux is jogging across the lawn towards her and before she can even voice her confusion, he puts an arm around her. “Oh, thank God you’re okay.” He begins to lead her towards his car but Rey digs her heels into the ground and shakes her head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m hungry,” she says and her voice is hoarse from three days of disuse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His eyes widen and he nods, “Oh, yeah. Yeah. We can stop at McDonald’s on the way to Ben’s.” He ushers her into the car and this time Rey lets him because the thought of salty greasy fries, a cheeseburger and the biggest chocolate milkshake is too appealing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey buckles herself into the passenger seat as Hux gets into the driver side, a phone pressed against his ear, “Kay? I found her. Yeah… she was coming out of the woods at the old garbage dump. Have you talked to Ben? We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hangs up and Rey’s heart beats almost as fast at the thought of meeting Ben as it did at the mention of McDonald’s. She wants to see Ben but she’s eternally grateful when Hux stops at the McDonald’s drive-thru and Rey orders half the menu and promises to pay him back for it but he waves her off as he hands his credit card to the cashier at the window.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as the bag is passed to her, Rey opens it and starts stuffing fries into her mouth -- aware that she’s making all kinds of feral sounds as she eats, but too hungry to care. Hux says nothing, but she can feel every time he gives her a worried glance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they pull up in front of Ben’s house, Rey hugs her fast food bag to her chest and follows Hux to the door, where Kaydel is already standing and waiting for her arrival.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben doesn’t hear anything from Rey for three whole days and he thinks he’s going insane. His parents have kept his door locked from the outside and the only times it’s been unlocked were for short periods long enough for his dad to enter with a sandwich or energy drink before leaving it on the desk and backing out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He thought about climbing out the window and had gotten as far as shimmying out onto the ledge and halfway down a trellis before Kaydel caught him and called his parents. He thinks his mother is insane for not worrying about Rey -- and on the third night when it starts to rain, Ben is so panicked that he comes close to breaking down the door to go and find her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he wakes up the next morning, he’s fairly certain that his mom put one of her Ambien into the tea she brought him to help calm down because he’s groggy and confused. His door and windows are already open and Leia has put fresh sheets on his desk. He reaches for the glass of water on his nightstand and gulps it down and then sits up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s still naked and he groans when he realizes he’s been naked the whole time and that Kaydel had seen his bare ass as he climbed out the window -- something he’s positive that she’ll never let him live down. He reaches for his phone to text her, prepared to beg her to never speak of the past three days and to delete any pictures she’d taken of the events (because he’s positive that she would not have missed the opportunity). But before he can even dial, it starts ringing and he relaxes when he sees that it’s Kaydel. “Kay, I was just going to call-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hux found Rey. He’s bringing her over now so unless you want them both to see your naked ass, I’d suggest you put some clothes on.” With that, she hangs up before he can say anything but a quick glance out his window, he can see Kay watching him impatiently and she taps her wrist to remind him to hurry. He scowls and pulls the blinds down and then hurries to the dresser, tugging on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What is he going to say to Rey? His pride is infinitely wounded that she had chosen to hide from him, but the rational part of his brain knows that he isn’t entitled to her body just because of their designations. He hears the front door open and pokes his head out to hear Kaydel shout up, “It’s just me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He rushes back to change his bedding and hauls it all downstairs to the laundry room. Kaydel and Hux won’t notice the smell, but he’s positive that Rey will be able to smell the bucket loads of sweat and cum on his sheets. He stuffs it all into the washer and turns it on to the most powerful cycle as he hears voices in the foyer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he rushes out, he sees Hux and Kaydel and Rey who is wrapped up in a cheap looking comforter. There are dark circles under her eyes and her hair looks like a bird’s nest. “Rey,” he breathes and though she looks like she’s been hit by a truck, he’s so relieved to see her that she is quite possibly the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The moment is interrupted by a loud growl from her stomach and Hux urges her into the house. “Keep eating,” he tells her encouragingly and she lets the comforter fall off her shoulders as she shuffles to the couch.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hux, Kaydel and Ben all gasp, because although only three days have passed, it’s clear that Rey has lost at least fifteen pounds. She avoids eye contact as she opens her bag and pulls out the cheeseburger. In what seems like only a few bites, it’s gone and Rey tips out the bag onto her lap, looking for stray fries.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben’s heart aches and he moves towards her as she eats the last few fries and then licks the salt from her fingers. He sits down on the couch and has to pull a pillow onto his lap because his body reacts to the scent of sweat and old slick on her skin even if he doesn’t want it to. “Are you okay?” Ben asks because Rey’s face is suddenly green and she only has time to shake her head and cover her mouth before jumping from the sofa and running to the bathroom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everyone can hear her vomiting and Ben glares at Hux, “Why did you bring her to McDonald’s?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hux’s cheeks turn red as he defends himself, “She said she was hungry…”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Ben can’t really be mad at Hux -- how could he know as a Beta what an Omega needs? She should have been eating well through her heat but now that she’s starved herself for three whole days, the only thing she needs is lots of protein and vegetables. Not a greasy hamburger. No wonder her body had rejected it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t we leave them alone?” Kaydel suggests to Hux, tugging on his arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben can’t stay too mad, especially knowing that his friends had been looking for Rey in his absence. How long had Hux been parked outside her house waiting for her to return while Ben was going nuts with hormone rage? He clears his throat, “Thanks for finding her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hux shakes his head, “Worry about taking care of her for now.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll call you later,” Kaydel says as she drags Hux to the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once they’re gone, Ben goes to the bathroom door and knocks on it lightly. “Rey? Are you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” she sends back, though her voice is shaky like she’s been crying.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben opens the door and peeks in, finding Rey on the floor, slumped against the toilet. She turns her face away when she sees him, like she’s embarrassed and squeaks out, “I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be,” Ben soothes and he squats down next to her. “It’s not your fault. You probably just ate too fast.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey nods as Ben wraps an arm around her shoulder and helps her to stand. “I can make you something else,” he suggests. “Or I can run a bath for you if you want to relax. Or I just made my bed if you want some rest.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No food,” Rey groans and lets Ben lead her up the stairs to his room. “Maybe a bath though? I’m sure I stink…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You don’t,” Ben assures her and he presses his face a little too close. “You smell… wow.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey blushes and gives her head a shake, but doesn’t argue as Ben leads her to the bed. He runs to the bathroom and starts a bath for her. He has to make it nice, he thinks, and he rushes past her out the door of his bedroom to his parents bathroom. He finds Leia’s fancy bath salts, the one with flower petals in it, and grabs one of the good ‘guests-only’ fluffy bath towels from the linen closet in the hallway. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He feels Rey’s eyes on him, watching curiously as he wanders back and forth from room to room with various items and he feels silly but the desire to make her happy and comfortable continues to urge him on. “Okay,” he says when it’s all ready and he leads Rey into the bathroom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben,” she laughs. He’s dimmed the lights, lit one of his mom’s candles and his phone is playing the kind of cheesy relaxation music that he’s pretty sure was invented solely for massage parlors and spas. He’d spent a good minute and a half fluffing the towel he’d procured and laid out one of his tshirts and a pair of well-loved sweatpants for her to change into.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you like it?” he finds himself asking, and he doesn’t like how needy he sounds.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But her face is so soft and shy as she nods that he can’t help when his chest puffs with pride. “I love it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um, okay. Right. I’ll let you do your thing,” he tells her awkwardly as he backs out of the room and closes the door. He exhales loudly and looks around quickly to make sure that his room is comfortable enough for her and he almost has to pinch himself at the fact that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Rey</span>
  </em>
  <span> is going to be in his room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nothing will happen, he’s sure of it, because she’s probably spent the last three days… his mind goes completely blank when he acknowledges what she’s probably been doing for three days straight and he’s hard </span>
  <em>
    <span>again. </span>
  </em>
  <span>He swallows and paces, trying to calm his body down, but it’s no use because his brain won’t let it go. What did she look like? Did she use her fingers or a toy? Did she think about him when she did it?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can’t think about it, he decides. If he lets his mind go there, he won’t be able to calm himself down until he jerks off and he can’t risk Rey walking in on him doing </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He needs something else to keep himself busy with so he goes downstairs to the kitchen and opens the refrigerator.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Twenty minutes later, the front door opens and Leia calls out, “Ben? Are you feeling be-...” The words fall short as she walks into the kitchen. “You made a mess.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben looks up from where he’s standing at the stove and he wipes a bead of sweat from his forehead with his arm. “I’m cooking.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I see that,” Leia says, eyeing the mess as she steps closer to her son. “An omelette. You’re making an omelette. With every vegetable in the house.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The island is covered in what appears to be every vegetable Ben could find, all diced into uniform pieces -- spinach and peppers and onions and tomatoes and mushrooms. He’d used half a block of Leia’s expensive imported parmigiano-reggiano cheese and half a carton of eggs and Leia’s first reaction was to scold him, but the whole thing was so entirely un-Ben-like that it gave her enough pause to ask, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Why</span>
  </em>
  <span> are you making a very, very expensive omelette?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey’s upstairs,” Ben says casually as he attempts to fold all the ingredients into the omelette.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia blinks, “She is? Did you two…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben shakes his head. “No. Her heat is over. But she’s taking a bath now and then I’m going to feed her and make her go to bed.” He looks over his shoulder, “Is that okay? If she stays the night? I’ll sleep on the couch.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia shakes her head at him and squeezes his shoulder. “That’s fine. But you better clean up this mess. Your father will flip if he sees what a mess you’ve made of his kitchen.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I will,” Ben’s voice is distracted as he tries to slide the omelette from the pan onto a plate and Leia shakes her head in amusement.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to go check on her real quick and then I’ll leave you two alone,” Leia promises as she leaves the kitchen and climbs the stairs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey stays in the bathtub until her skin is pruny, but she can’t keep the smile from her face as she climbs out. As exhausted and hungry as she is, the only thing she can focus on is how sweet Ben had been to do this for her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She wraps the fluffy towel around her body and finds a new toothbrush he’d set aside for her. As she squirts some toothpaste on and goes to town, trying to scrub away vomit and three days worth of plaque, she can only think of how wonderful and thoughtful he is. Her heat is over, but it occurs to her clear mind that everything would have been so much easier if she’d gone to Ben to begin with. He would have taken good care of her and all of this proves that. If he’s this sweet when out of the influence of raging hormones, what would it have been like with him at her side?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s moot to think about. Once her heat had hit her full force, it would have been impossible to take the two mile trek to Ben’s house and she would have risked putting herself in danger to do so. And Ben, though she wishes he would have found her, she purposely hid herself away in a place where she wouldn’t be found so she couldn’t entirely blame him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she rinses her mouth and changes into the spare clothes Ben left her, she expects to find him in his bedroom but he’s not there. She sits on the mattress and towel dries her hair and then walks to his dresser where she finds his hair brush. She smirks and brings it to her nose, inhaling that scent that is pure Ben, and it amuses her to no end that he uses a brush instead of a comb. With hair that thick and perfect, she’s unsurprised but amused all the same.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She wanders around taking note of the little things; a collection of old cameras and model cars that she imagined a younger Ben putting together with Han. He’s got three different Harvard pennants on his wall and a collection of photos of the track team that’s hung from a string of fairy lights by little clothes pins. She’d think an old girlfriend had gifted it to Ben if she hadn’t seen an identical one in Kaydel’s room. Sure enough, one of the pictures is of a tiny Kaydel giving Ben a shampoo mohawk in a bathtub together and Rey wishes she’d brought her phone with her so she could snap her own picture of it’s cuteness. Snooping around his room is thrilling in all the little pieces of Ben she gets to collect and store away in her memory.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey, I’m so glad you’re safe,” a motherly voice soothes and when she turns, Leia is standing in the doorway watching her. “You’re skin and bones,” she tuts as she comes into the room and lifts Rey’s arms as if examining her. “And your arm is all cut up. I’ll get something for that…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She hurries out of the room and Rey sits down on Ben’s bed as Leia comes back with a first aid kit. “Where were you?” Leia asks as she rolls up Rey’s sleeve and squirts some antibiotic cream into the cut.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“At the old junkyard,” Rey answers, grimacing as Leia puts the bandage on a little too tight. She doesn’t dare tell her about the gouge on her side. Instead, she leans down and pulls something out of her track shorts. “In Han’s old car, actually.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia laughs as Rey puts the dice in her hand, “Oh dear. Well, let’s keep that a secret between you and I, okay? I had that death trap towed away years ago. Can you believe he wanted to drive Ben around in that piece of junk?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey grins, “There </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> a car seat inside.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia sighs and hands the dice to Rey, “Why don’t you keep the incriminating evidence for now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey stows the dice on Ben’s nightstand for now and grabs the pile of laundry, “Um, do you mind if I use your washing machine?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll get it,” Leia says and when Rey tries to protest she cuts her off with a stern look, “You need rest.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey knows better than to argue so she changes the subject, “Where’s Ben?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s making you something to eat,” Leia winked and as if on cue, Ben enters the room with a plate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you hungry?” he asks as he gives his mom a look and she is barely out of his room when he kicks the door shut behind her. He hands the plate over and shifts awkwardly as Rey stares down at it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s an omelette, or at least it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>supposed</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be. Without a doubt, it's the ugliest and least appetizing omelette Rey has ever seen. But it’s made by Ben and that means more to her than an ugly omelette so she sets it on her lap and starts eating.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What the omelette lacks in appearance, it makes up for in flavor and Rey feels like she should apologize for judging it before trying it but luckily she’d kept her thoughts to herself. “It’s good,” she says around a mouth full of food as she lifts another bite to her mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good,” Ben says and he pulls his chair over to his bed so he can sit by Rey as she eats. “Don’t eat too fast though. Take your time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey tries to heed his warning because she doesn’t want to throw up again. He watches her eat the entire time and while it would have bothered her in the past, there was something about his protectiveness that relaxed Rey.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want more?” he asks when she sets the plate aside.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe later,” she says and then pauses. “Do you… um, do you mind if I sleep for a while? I can go home if-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” Ben says. “You can stay. My mom already said it's fine and I can sleep downstairs.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The relief Rey feels is indescribable. She is so comfortable here in Ben’s room and he has been so patient in taking care of her. “Thank you, A-” She cuts off the thought before she can finish it, but it’s too late -- they both know what she was about to say; what she’d been about to call him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben’s face is pink, all the way to the tips of his ears, and there’s a small smile threatening to take over his entire face as he jumps up. “Um, I’ll just let you get some rest, okay?” He waits until Rey lays down and then pulls his blankets up over her shoulders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey watches him pick up the plate and he flips off the lights before he leaves the room. Her eyes close and she buries her face against his pillow. It smells like Ben and all tension leaves her body as she lets herself really rest for the first time in days.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Alpha</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Rey had almost called him Alpha and Ben’s heart is soaring because he knows it means he’s done a good job taking care of her. He can’t wipe the grin off his face as he goes down to the kitchen to wash Rey’s plate. It’s a weird feeling, being so intune with what someone else needs and actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanting</span>
  </em>
  <span> to follow through with it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he gets to the kitchen, Han is there, unpacking several cartons of chinese takeout. “Heard your girlfriend is here…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben knows his dad is teasing, but he’s way too happy to take the bait. Besides, she </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>his girlfriend. “She’s sleeping.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to put some on a plate for her for later?” Han asks as he opens the paper pails.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben looks inside and wrinkles his nose -- it’s all either carbs or covered in sodium-rich sauces. “I don’t know if her stomach can handle that, but thanks.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What about you?” Han asks. “You should eat something too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben washes the plate and sits down on a stool at the counter, filling a plate with lo mein and broccoli beef. “Thanks.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So…” Han says as he scoops some orange chicken onto his own plate. He’s got that signature Han smirk and Ben almost groans because he can sense what’s coming. “Did you kids…?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Han, stop embarrassing your son,” Leia scolds as she walks into the room and grabs a plate. “It’s none of your business.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t tell you even if we did,” Ben grumbles into his plate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Han frowns, “Why not? You don’t think your old man knows what it’s like to be a young virile Alpha?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Gross,” both Ben and Leia say at the same time and Han grumbles something about being ganged up on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m just trying to have the talk with my son here,” Han sighs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I already know about sex, dad,” Ben says and rolls his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But do you know about birth control? Whether Rey’s…” Han clears his throat and scratches the back of his neck, as if he’s uncomfortable talking about a teenage girls’ reproductive health. He sighs in exasperation, “You know, if she’s taking care of things…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben pauses mid-bite and realizes he has no idea. “We just started dating,” he says defensively. “It’s not like I’m gonna ask her on the second date if she’s on the pill.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” Han says, nodding his head and trying to appear as casual as possible. “Just talk about it before you take that step, okay son?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah yeah,” Ben groans and finishes his dinner in record time. He doesn’t know what to do with himself -- what he really wants is to go watch Rey sleep, but even he is aware how creepy that would be so he busies himself by taking a shower in the downstairs bathroom and moving around his laundry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kaydel was nice enough to bring his homework from the classes he’s missed and though he has the weekend to catch up on it, he figures he’ll get a head start so he can help Rey with hers later. He’s an hour and a half into his homework before he starts to get restless and it’s burning up a lot of energy resisting the urge to wake Rey up so he decides to make her a snack.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the kitchen, he makes up a plate with some sliced strawberries and apples, some peanut butter and celery and a handful of chocolate covered almonds. When it’s done he can’t deny the urge any longer so he takes the plate upstairs and tries to open the door as quietly as he can while balancing the plate and a bottle of water. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey is sleeping peacefully, curled in on herself with her face buried completely in the pillow so that he can’t see her. He can hear her soft snores though and sees her shoulders expand and contract with each breath. He puts the plate on the table and Rey shifts in her sleep and mumbles, “Is that peanut butter?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben isn’t sure if she’s sleep talking or asking, but he answers softly, “Do you want some?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She lifts her head and looks at him with puffy, sleepy eyes and then they go to the plate. She reaches out to the plate and picks up one of the peanut butter covered celery stalks and proceeds to lick the peanut butter off, placing the vegetable peanut butter vessel back onto the plate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You should eat the celery,” Ben scolds as she reaches for another, sitting up in bed this time as she licks the peanut butter off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hate celery,” she tells him and takes an apple slice next. He watches the way her lips close around the apple as she bites and the way she hums in pleasure at the taste. “These are good apples. Better than the starchy ones Plutt buys.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben’s sure that his mom bought them from some organic local grower, but he’s too busy making mental lists about Rey’s culinary likes and dislikes so that he can bring her all of her favorites next time. “Are you feeling better?” he asks, but only once he’s realized that he’s been staring at her for too long.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shrugs and Ben doesn’t know what to think as he’s gripped with the insecurity that he’s done something to displease her. “Do you want to watch a movie? Or I have books you can read? My mom might have something you like if you want me to ask her…”</span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ben, relax,” Rey looks at him. “A movie sounds nice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay,” Ben agrees, trying not to blush as he crosses the room to his desk to grab his Macbook. At some point, Rey, or maybe his mom, must have raised the blinds because Kaydel is watching him from her desk and waggles her eyebrows while making kissy faces at him. He gives her the finger and closes his blinds again and when he turns to Rey with his computer, her blush makes it clear that she saw Kaydel too. “Ignore her. She likes giving me a hard time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “Maybe she likes you…” Rey hedges and Ben knows she’s digging for information. He doesn’t mind though. If other girls make her insecure, it’s his job as her Alpha to reassure her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She doesn’t. She’s like an annoying kid sister. Besides, she’s had a thing for Poe since freshman year,” Ben explains as he opens his laptop and pulls up netflix.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really?” Rey asks. “Kaydel likes Poe? She’s always making fun of him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, she thinks she’s sneaky about it but I know she likes him,” Ben shrugs. “She’d have better luck if she just asked him out because Poe is dumb enough that he’ll never realize how she feels.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey sits up as if suddenly remembering something, “Oh! Poe! How is he?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben’s eyes dart away and he sheepishly says, “Broken nose. But he’s fine. I’m sure he’ll apologize as soon as he sees you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben! You broke his n-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben can tell she’s upset and he remembers how his mom had admonished him for behaving like a sad excuse for an Alpha so he cuts her off before she can unleash her full fury on him. “I’m sorry, Rey. I shouldn’t have fought him, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. I should have made sure you were okay and I didn’t and I know that makes me a bad Alpha and I understand that’s why you hid. I’m sorry.” It comes out in one long breath and he isn’t sure that Rey could even understand a word of it but then she reaches over and takes his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think you’re a bad Alpha,” she says gently and when he looks at her, she opens her mouth to speak again, but it snaps shut. He wants to know what else she was going to say but he is distracted when she leans over and kisses him softly. When she pulls back she’s so close he can hear her swallow before she says. “You’re good. So good.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” is all Ben can think to say and they stare at each other for several long seconds and right as Ben’s eyes fall to her lips, the door swings open.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oops,” Leia says, not sounding sorry at all. “Rey, dear, your clothes are clean.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey scoots away from Ben and stutters out a, “Thanks Mrs. Solo.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you kids up to?” she asks, lingering long enough that Ben sends her a dirty look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We were just going to watch a movie,” Rey says quickly and gestures at the computer still open on Ben’s lap.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Leia smiles. “You kids have fun but just remember that the walls are very thin…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mom,” Ben groans and Leia hold her hands up defensively as she backs out of the room. Once she’s gone, Ben turns to Rey, “I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t be,” she shrugs and moves back so her back is pressed to the wall against his bed. “Your parents care. It’s nice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben moves to sit next to her and says, “They care about you too.” He can’t imagine how Rey feels having no parents and wonders if it hurts her to see how his parents treat her. He reaches for her hand and threads their fingers together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know,” Rey says and gives him a small smile before nodding at the computer screen. “What are we going to watch?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben discovers that Rey hasn’t seen many movies -- she doesn’t have her own computer or freedom to monopolize a television on a regular basis -- so he puts on one of his favorite Scorsese movies because he’s a teenage boy and an Alpha and totally not because he knows that all the violence will make Rey snuggle up closer to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When it’s over, he can tell Rey is sleepy and he wonders if she’d even caught the end of the movie. He moves his computer back to his desk. “Do you want me to bring you anything before bed? More snacks?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey shakes her head and climbs under the blankets, “I’m okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Okay. I’ll be down on the couch if you need anything…” Ben says as he moves to turn off the light.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You could stay here,” Rey says quietly as soon as the lights are off and Ben freezes in the dark with his hand on the doorknob. “I mean, if you want. You don’t have to.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want me to?” Ben asks even though he’s already moving back towards his bed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um, yes?” Rey answers and as if she senses his proximity, her arm reaches out and touches his thigh as he stands at the side of the bed. “Unless you’ll get in trouble.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben won’t get in trouble, but if his parents find out he spent the night, he’ll be opening himself up to all kinds of questions and teasing comments. It’s worth the risk, he thinks, as he lifts the blankets and climbs in next to Rey. It’s too dark to see but he can sense that she’s facing him so he reaches out and puts his arm around her side.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey hisses in response and Ben pulls his arm back, “Sorry!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” she whispers. “It’s not you. I cut my side climbing through a fence.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben reaches over and turns on the light on his nightstand. “Are you okay?” He’s already pulling down the covers and reaching for the hem of her shirt. “Can I see?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey lifts it for him and he’s almost disappointed that he didn’t get to do it himself until he sees the long gouge running up the side of her torso. It’s red and angry and Ben wonders if he should get his mom. “Rey…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine,” she tells him. “Just a scratch.” She tries to yank the shirt back down but he stops her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The first aid kit Leia had used earlier is still next to the bed and Ben reaches for it. “Why were you climbing through a fence?” He opens the box and pulls out the antibiotic cream along with a length of gauze and some medical tape.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hid in the old junkyard behind Plutt’s house,” Rey explains and she practically melts against the mattress when Ben starts lightly rubbing the cream along her skin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He frowns at her, trying to hide how hurt he is that she would rather spend her heat in a dump than with him but he holds it in. A good Alpha wouldn’t make his Omega feel guilty about trying to stay safe. “I’m glad you’re okay,” he says but even to him the words sound bitter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey covers his hand with her own and when he looks at her, there’s guilt all over her face. She knows how he feels without even having to say it and that makes him feel even worse. He quickly bandages the cut and puts away the supplies before turning the light off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bed shifts and Rey is close enough to him that he can feel the heat of her body. She takes his arm and puts it on her side and when Ben feels the warmth of her skin he knows that she hasn’t pulled the shirt back down. Her skin is smooth and he lets his fingertips trace along the dip of her spine. She lets out a shaky breath and Ben feels it against his neck as her own hand presses against his chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Can she feel how fast his heart is beating? He wonders. Is hers beating just as fast? His fingers skim back over her side and along her ribcage and instead of exhaling, this time Rey sucks in a breath as the tips of his fingers brush along the underside of her breast. He swallows hard and it's so loud he’s sure it echoed in the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her skin is even softer here and he’s so tempted to move up just another inch or two for her nipple but he hasn’t been given permission so he slides his hand between her breasts and lays it gently over her heart. “Ben,” she whispers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmmm?” he asks, focusing on the beat of her heart under his hand. It feels like there’s a caged bird under his fingers, flapping its wings in a desperate attempt to be free. He wants to press his ear there and listen, or maybe use his lips to soothe it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing?” she asks quietly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Feeling your heartbeat,” he whispers as if it’s obvious; as if it's not bizarre; as if he’s not a teenage boy who passed up the perfect opportunity to get to second base.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Rey says and he swears her heart beats faster. He starts when her hand cups the side of his face and her voice is shaky when she says, “Ben.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hmm?” he hums again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t hide from you,” she says. “I… I don’t want you to think that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, Rey,” Ben says quietly and it is. He didn’t deserve Rey this time, but maybe next time she would come to him. He’d spend the next however many months proving he was worthy of her trust.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No,” Rey shakes her head and Ben knows even though it's dark because the ends of her hair flick his face. “Ben, I…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t say anything for a long stretch, so long that Ben wonders if she fell asleep. Finally, she says softly, “At my last foster home something happened.” Ben’s stomach flops and he doesn’t know what to think but he waits patiently for Rey to continue and when he feels her chest stutter, he knows she’s crying. He takes his hand off her chest and pulls her into a hug. She buries her face against his chest and when she speaks again, it’s muffled, “My foster dad was an Alpha and he…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shhh,” Ben shushes her. He can guess the rest and it makes his stomach churn with disgust. Her foster father was supposed to take care of her and instead, he’d forced himself on Rey and made her scared and distrustful. He's overcome with the urge to find the man and Ben thinks if he had the chance, he’d kill him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When I got home from track practice, I thought about Plutt finding me in heat. Or Poe coming around. I got scared,” she says and when she lifts her head, Ben reaches up with one hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay, Rey,” he tells her. “I understand.” He kisses her forehead, the tip of her nose and finally her lips. She sighs against him and he pulls her even closer. “Next time, we’ll be better prepared, ok? You can stay here. I’ll take care of you and if you don’t want me then Leia will be here. I promise you’ll be safe, ok?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey nods and leans forward, pressing her lips against his. It’s a chaste kiss and Ben can taste the salt from her tears as she breathes against his lips, “Yes, Ben.” And as if it's the most natural thing in the universe, she adds, “Thank you, Alpha.”</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you again for so much love &lt;3 Your kudos and comments mean everything to me!</p><p>I'm thinking two more chapters in the past? One full of fluff and the other full of angst!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Second Heat</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Nothing in Rey’s life has ever felt easy or natural the way it does the moment the word ‘Alpha’ leaves her lips; Natural is the only word that Rey can think of to describe how she feels around Ben Solo.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> She remembers back to the beginning of the school year, how scared and alone she’d felt -- how she’d </span>
  <em>
    <span>always</span>
  </em>
  <span> felt that way, really -- it’s hard to imagine feeling that way again. For as long as Rey could remember, she’s never allowed herself to feel safe or comfortable at any of her foster homes. She’s never trusted anyone to take care of her and there has always been that nagging feeling of owing someone for any kindness she’s been offered in life. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s spent her entire existence in fear of losing everything and any trust she’s had in a person had been misplaced, had left her broken. But with Ben, it’s different.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From the moment she saw him, when his scent had carried on the wind to her, something had shifted inside of her. In weeks, or perhaps it was mere days or hours, he’d cracked down whatever walls she’d built up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Home isn’t a place, she’s realized; it’s Ben. He is the only person who has ever made her feel safe and calm and </span>
  <em>
    <span>loved</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey calls him Alpha when they’re alone, because it feels right and because all the little reactions make her feel like she is home to him too. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She whispers it in his ear while he helps her with her calculus homework and it makes him shiver and the fingers he has wrapped around his pen twitch and flex like it’s taking all of his willpower not to snap it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he drives her home and walks her to her door, she kisses him goodnight and mumbles it against his lips and his arms tighten around her waist like he can’t bear to let her go and she wishes they could hold each other forever.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She revels in the way his pupils dilate and his breath hitches whenever she says it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alpha,” she groans when he pushes her back against the cushions of his parents’ couch before capturing her lips. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She feels powerful when his scent spikes and when she feels his pulse race when they are holding hands. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alpha,” she says, when they’re alone and it’s like a secret language spoken between them, because no matter how she says it, he knows what she wants -- a kiss, or help carrying her books, or an ice cream cone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In her phone, he’s Alpha and when he calls or texts and she sees that one little word, all she can think is </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mine. Home.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A month has passed since her last heat and since she’d first called him Alpha. In front of their friends, he’s still Ben and she’s still Rey and it’s a secret between just the two of them that they belong to one another.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a secret that can’t last forever and she finally slips up one night at dinner, in front of Ben’s parents, of all people. It’s a normal Wednesday night; Rey is having dinner at the Solos’ house as she does almost every night. Part of her is worried that she’s constantly overstaying her welcome, but his parents never complain. Maybe it’s because they know she doesn’t get proper food at Plutt’s. Or maybe they actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>like</span>
  </em>
  <span> having her around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tonight, Han has made fajitas and Rey’s never had one before so Ben sits next to her and shows her how to assemble one and when it’s finished, she says sweetly, “Thanks, Alpha.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia nearly chokes on her iced tea and Han bursts out laughing and Rey sinks so low in her chair that she hopes that the world will open up under the table and swallow her whole.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben is so sweet, so good, and all he says is, “Eat, Omega.” And she does. Han stops laughing and Leia composes herself, but she’d be blind not to see the looks they exchange with one another.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After dinner, Ben and Han do the dishes and Rey tries to busy herself with her Spanish homework while trying to shove down the existential dread she feels knowing that the men are in the kitchen, talking about what she’d blurted at the dinner table. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Leia settles into the couch beside her, Rey nearly jumps out of her skin and the book she’s been staring at tumbles to the floor. “Relax,” Leia says, and there’s a touch of worry in her voice under the amusement.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey picks up her book and sets it on the table, “Sorry…”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, dear,” Leia tells her calmly and scoots a little closer to her on the couch. “You didn’t say anything bad. We were just shocked, that’s all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey doesn’t know what is so shocking about it; Leia helped her get birth control and Ben’s been her boyfriend for over a month. “Okay,” she says cautiously, partly because she doesn’t know what else to say and partly because she knows that Leia is going to lecture her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s just… unusual. Not that it’s bad!” Leia says quickly, as if to reassure Rey. “I mean, I didn’t call Han that outside of a heat until I was pregnant with Ben and…” she blushes as if she’s stuck in the memory and Rey almost snorts at the sappy expression on her face. “You haven’t even shared a heat and already you’re calling him that. It was shocking…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey doesn’t understand what the big deal is -- just because Han and Leia waited so long to tell one another their feelings doesn’t mean that </span>
  <em>
    <span>she’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> weird for saying it so easily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia doesn’t wait for Rey to speak before she continues, “Just promise me that you’ll talk to us before you decide to mate. Okay?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Rey chokes on her own spit as her eyes grow wide, “Mate?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia blinks, “Well, yes. You’ve already claimed each other and…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Mate</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Rey repeats incredulously, and she can’t believe they’re having this conversation over a simple word. “We… we haven’t even had sex yet!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia’s face goes a little pink at that admission, “Well yes, I’m glad you’re taking </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> as slow as you are. I’m proud of you both, really. But Rey, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> realize what it means that you’re calling him your Alpha, don’t you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey swallows but shakes her head. She can’t pinpoint </span>
  <em>
    <span>why</span>
  </em>
  <span> she’d said it the first time -- perhaps it was because she felt so safe and cherished in his arms. The word had simply popped out of her mouth without any thought at all. “N-no…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey, dear,” Leia coos, putting an arm around her shoulders. “You’ve claimed Ben as your mate.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For the second time that night, Rey wants to just disappear. If she’d known that’s what it meant, she never would have said it so many times, so easily. And Ben… did </span>
  <em>
    <span>he</span>
  </em>
  <span> know what it meant? “Oh God…” Rey groans in humiliation. He must think she’s so desperate, so pathetic.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia must sense the impending panic attack because she guides Rey’s head to her shoulder and pats gently. “It’s okay, dear. These things just come naturally when the time is right. You didn’t do anything wrong.” No one has ever held Rey like this, or comforted her when she’s been on the brink of a panic attack. Rey wonders if this is what having a mother feels like and she’s so shocked by Leia’s next words that tears spring to her eyes. “I would love to have you as a daughter one day, Rey. All I ask is that you talk to Han and I before you let Ben mate you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey can only nod through the tears and she can’t find it in her to lift her face to look at Leia -- the fact that she’s crying over Leia calling her a daughter…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mom!” Rey finally lifts her head when she hears Ben’s voice. “You made her cry!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Leia lets go and pulls back so she can see Rey’s face. “Oh, Rey, honey.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I want to go home,” Rey says, even though Plutt’s house isn’t home like Ben’s house is. She’s so humiliated and scared and tired and all she wants is to process this somewhere away from the shame she feels here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll take her,” Han offers and Rey quickly gathers her things. She’s glad it’s Han taking her home and not Ben or Leia; she can’t face either one of their questions right now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Han drops her off, she goes straight to her room and crawls under the covers, turning on her side to look out the window. Tonight, the moon is just a sliver in the sky, but it makes her feel instantly calm to know that every night it will grow bigger and brighter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She closes her eyes and thinks that it wouldn’t be so bad to have Ben forever, to be Leia and Han’s daughter. If Ben wanted her too, she’d let him bite her tomorrow.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben’s birthday is in a couple of days,” Kaydel remarks one day at lunch. Rey is eating the basket of tater tots that Ben bought her -- if anyone has noticed how he’s always feeding her, no one has the nerve to speak up, although Rey has caught Bazine glaring on more than one occasion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Rey nods, dipping her tater tot in ketchup before popping it into her mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boys are playing hackey sack, and while Rey and Kaydel think it’s stupid, half of the male population at school is obsessed with the stupid game. “What are you giving him?” Kaydel asks as she takes a tater tot from Rey’s basket.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey ducks her head, “I’m not getting him anything.” Ben knows everything -- he knows about how happy she’d tried to be at the Millers until Mr. Miller had touched her. She’s told him the good and the bad about every other foster home. He knows about how Plutt doesn’t keep food in the house for her and how every cent she earns at the pizza shop goes into track competitions and her uniform and new tennis shoes. He’s already told her he doesn’t want anything for his birthday and she knows he means it because he wouldn’t lie to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Kaydel looks at Rey like she’s crazy and it almost makes Rey feel guilty. “Nothing? Not even like… a blow job or something?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey’s face turns bright red, “We haven’t…” They’ve kissed. A lot. But they still haven’t talked about </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>dinner or the implications and perhaps that was keeping them from crossing into more dangerous territory.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Never?” Kaydel asks incredulously, and it makes Rey feel childish. “I just figured because you two are always touching and looking at each other like you want to rip your clothes off.”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“We don’t,” Rey denies but it’s futile because they </span>
  <em>
    <span>are </span>
  </em>
  <span>always holding hands and she </span>
  <em>
    <span>has</span>
  </em>
  <span> thought about ripping his clothes off, especially after practice when he’s sweating and his shirt clings to him in a way that makes it so Rey can see every contour of muscle underneath and…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Earth to Rey,” Kaydel laughs, waving a hand in front of her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?” Rey asks defensively, fighting to keep the blush off of her face. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You were thinking about ripping his clothes off, weren’t you?” Kaydel grins, and Rey can’t exactly deny it so she doesn’t answer. “That’s it!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey jumps, “What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben’s birthday present… it doesn’t have to cost anything…” Kaydel’s grin turns into something more perverted and she leans forward, “Send him a naughty picture.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? No way!” Rey shrieks. She thinks about all of the unsexy underwear -- packs of Hanes briefs that the state gives her and her face </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span> go red.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why not?” Kaydel asks. “You can’t not get him something and this is perfect!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What if he doesn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>want</span>
  </em>
  <span> a naughty picture?” Rey points out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey,” Kaydel laughs and shakes her head ruefully. “You didn’t see him when you went into heat. He went insane. If you think he doesn’t want you, you’re actually crazy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What if someone else sees it?” Rey worries.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben would never show anyone that,” Kaydel promises. “And he’d rip apart anyone who stumbled across it by accident.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both fall silent as the group of boys groan loudly when a player drops the hacky sack on the ground. Hux picks it back up and gets the game going again and Rey tentatively asks, “You really think he’d like it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think it’ll be his favorite gift,” Kaydel grins and shoots Rey a wink.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In the days leading up to Ben’s birthday, Rey takes </span>
  <em>
    <span>a lot </span>
  </em>
  <span>of selfies -- in her bedroom while draped across her bed, in the mirror in her cotton panties and faded bra, naked and wet from the shower.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The day before his birthday, she goes with Kaydel to Wal-mart to get Ben a card after school and she finds a pair of lacy black underwear on the clearance rack for under two dollars. Kaydel gives her a knowing look as they check out and as soon as they’re in the car, Kaydel grabs the bag and pulls them out, “Perfect,” she grins before flinging them at Rey’s face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben’s birthday falls on a Saturday and his parents take him out for breakfast, but afterwards, the entire track team meets at the pier to hang out. Rey catches a ride with Poe who grills her in the car about her gift and the redder Rey’s face gets, the wider his grin gets, “I get it. It’s a private gift…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey turns to look out the window but shifts uncomfortably in her seat -- she’s wearing the black panties and it’s her first time in a thong. No one needs to know but from the look on Poe’s face she has a feeling that he can practically read her mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they get there, the others are all already there and Ben is unwrapping a gift from Bazine. “Woah,” he lifts a percussion massager gun from the box. “Baz, this is really nice! Are you sure…?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>She waves her hand, “It’s not like I’m broke. Oh! Poe and Rey are here…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey nods at Bazine and looks at Ben’s gift; clearly it’s expensive and a completely inappropriate gift coming from another woman. She squashes down the way it makes her feel angry and as if Ben can sense it, he quickly puts it back into the gift bag.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Bazine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did you get for Ben?” Bazine turns to Rey, crossing her arms over her chest and looking smug.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey looks away, biting the inside of her cheek. So that’s what this is -- Bazine had dropped a load of cash on Ben’s gift just to humiliate her. To draw everyone’s attention to the fact that Rey can’t afford to get her own boyfriend anything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s none of your business, Bazine,” Kaydel barks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was just curious,” Bazine tries to play off. “I know if Ben was </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> boyfriend…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, he’s not,” Rey snaps and everyone looks at her with wide eyes. Rey is always quiet, always ignores Bazine’s subtle jabs. Their friend group stays harmonious because everyone, including Rey, just writes off Bazine’s insults.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bazine sputters for a second, then looks around at everyone else, “I just… I didn’t…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How about some ice cream? My treat,” Hux says cheerfully as he leads the way towards the ice cream parlor in order to alleviate any awkwardness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey glares at the back of Bazine’s head as she marches to catch up with Hux. She only relaxes once Ben takes her hand and she glances at him from the corner of her eye -- Ben is hers and Bazine will never take him away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After ice cream, the team parts ways and Ben insists that Rey have dinner with his family. She hasn’t been around as much since the incident, so when she walks inside, Leia immediately pulls her into a hug, “We’ve missed you, dear…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey blinks -- it’s an odd feeling, being missed. She’s spent plenty of time missing other people and things and places but she’s never been on the receiving end. “I missed you guys, too,” she admits and it makes the hairs on her arms stand on end to say -- she’s setting herself up to be hurt and part of her knows it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But she belongs to the Solos as much as she belongs to Ben. She doesn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be embarrassed about calling Ben Alpha, or that his parents know she’s claimed him. She wants to be a part of this family so she does her best to strangle the fear that’s prickling up her spine at the thought of being unwanted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Let me take your coat,” she says and helps Rey shrug out of it. “It’s freezing outside but Han insisted on grilling hamburgers because it’s Ben’s favorite…” She rolls her eyes and nods towards the glass patio where Han is grilling in a hat and mittens.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told him he didn’t have to…” Ben grumbles but then Han turns and waves at them with the tongs he’s holding as he takes a swig from his bottle of beer and all three of the occupants of the house try to hide their laughter. Rey thinks again about how nice it would be to really be a part of this family, to call Leia and Han ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ one day.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sneaks a look at Ben, who is trying to peek at the cake his mom picked up from the bakery. Leia smacks his hands and he laughs as he dodges the attack and Rey wonders if he ever thinks about her the way she thinks about him. Does he miss her at night? Does he think about biting her and making her his own? Does he think about the family they would have together?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“‘Scuse me, Rey,” Han says and his teeth chatter as he carries a plate of grilled burgers into the house. She jumps out of the way as he sets them on the counter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I hope you kids didn’t fill up on ice cream…” Leia tuts as she produces a bag of potato chips from the cupboard -- it’s almost like summer with the spread on the counter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Rey’s always got room for more,” Han teases, mussing Rey’s hair before he takes off his mittens and it makes Rey feel warm and fuzzy. She’s sure that she’s smiling when she lifts her head and Ben is grinning back at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here,” he says and hands her a plate with a burger already on it -- ketchup, no mustard and extra pickles. Just the way she likes it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s your birthday,” she points out. “I should be making </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> one.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t bother,” Leia laughs. “He’s just like his dad… he has an obsession with feeding the people he cares about.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is it an obsession or is it that you just can’t cook?” Han teases her and Rey laughs as she takes a bite of her burger. Come to think of it, she’d never actually eaten anything that Leia had cooked…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bad cook,” Ben says with a mouth full of food and Leia glares playfully at both of them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, see if I ever cook anything again,” she mutters as she fills her own plate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Is that a promise?” Han grins and dodges as Leia throws a mitten at his head. “Go sit down at the table. We’re not all heathens.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey picks up her plate and carries it to her spot at the table as the Solos continue their usual banter which continues into when Leia brings out Ben’s birthday cake, complete with sprinkles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Afterwards, they continue Ben’s yearly birthday tradition with home movies and Rey can’t tear her eyes away from the screen as she watches Ben grow up before her. Her heart aches when she thinks about all the years they’ve missed and then it flutters when she thinks about maybe one day having a baby with chubby cheeks and dark curls like him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When it’s time to go home, Ben drives Rey back to her house and walks her to the door. “Thanks for coming,” Ben says, taking a step closer in a way that Rey has come to know means that a kiss is impending. “I know it’s a lame way to spend a birthday…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She tilts her head up towards him and fights the urge to reach out to him. She needs to tell him first, “I don’t think it’s lame. I love your parents.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He grins down at her and his arms slide around her waist, pulling her closer. “I think it’s safe to say they love you too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey’s eyes flutter shut and she hopes that he hadn’t seen the tears in them. He can’t have any idea how much that means to her but when their lips finally meet, the kiss is tender and Rey knows that he understands </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly</span>
  </em>
  <span> how much it means to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he breaks away, he cups her face gently in his hands and Rey whispers up at him, “Happy birthday, Ben.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He smiles one of those rare smiles -- the one that stretches across his face and makes the corners of his eyes wrinkle. “Goodnight, Rey.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She steps inside the house but waits until he drives away before she closes the door. Plutt is asleep on the couch and the tv is blaring some kind of sports program so Rey slinks quietly to her bedroom and closes the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She waits until she thinks Ben is home, and hopefully in the comfort of his own room before she shucks off her pants and top and bra until she’s just in the black panties. There’s a moment of hesitation -- her body is nothing special. She isn’t long limbed like Bazine and she doesn’t have the curves Kaydel does. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But then she remembers the way Ben kissed her like a man in love, and it gives Rey all the confidence she needs to stand in front of her mirror and snap the picture.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben parks the car in the garage and when he re-enters the house, his dad is asleep on the couch and his mom is </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> watching old home movies. When he was younger, he enjoyed seeing himself as a child but the older he grew, the more he realized it was more for his parents’ sake than his own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The thing about being an only child is that most people assume that it’s amazing having all of the love and attention heaped onto himself -- and maybe that’s why Kaydel had always understood him in a way no one else had as an only child herself. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He loves his parents and the fact that they have such a good relationship, but he also remembers asking for a brother or sister every birthday until he was old enough to notice the pained looks his parents gave one another.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he thinks about Rey, about how happy she is to spend time with his parents, he realizes just how much she means, not only to him, but to his parents. Han has taken to teasing her the way he does Ben and Leia and Leia, well… Ben isn’t blind enough to miss the way she looks at Rey in adoration -- like the daughter she’d always wanted.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He bids goodnight and climbs the stairs to his room, shutting the door and changing into his pajamas. He thinks about Rey as he climbs under the covers -- he isn’t jealous of how easily she’s fit into his life or how much his parents love her like their own child. When he thinks of how happy she’d been to spend the afternoon at his house and it fills him with relief.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After the awkward events at dinner weeks before, Ben had been so nervous that his mother had scared Rey away. He wasn’t sure exactly what </span>
  <em>
    <span>their</span>
  </em>
  <span> conversation had been, but if it was anything like Han’s lecture about </span>
  <em>
    <span>mating</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he was surprised Rey even worked up the nerve to come over again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not that he hadn’t thought about mating her before that night, because he had. He’d thought about it a lot since that day when he’d caught Rey on the field at school and had gotten a taste of her mating gland. He thought about it when she’d been in heat and he’d gone crazy with his own rut -- how much easier it would be if he just bit her so she couldn’t run.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But those were just thoughts and he knew better than to act on them, despite what his dad thought. He would never do anything like that to Rey until she wanted it, too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He reaches for his phone where it’s charging on his desk to text Rey another goodnight but instead finds a message from her. When he opens it, his brain stops functioning completely for a full minute as he stares at the screen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Rey</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Topless and in the tiniest excuse for underwear he’s ever seen. She’s beautiful -- more so than anything his brain has ever been able to conjure up. When his brain finally starts functioning again, it’s just repeating over and over </span>
  <em>
    <span>mine mine mine.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All of the blood in his body rushes straight to his cock and he yanks his pajama pants down to his knees. Once it’s free, standing tall and flush and looking rather angry, he reaches down to wrap a hand around himself. It feels so good he hisses.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With the other hand, he holds his phone close to his face -- she’s got a dusting of freckles over the tops of her breasts that he’d never known about and her nipples are a delicate shade of pink that make him lick his lips subconsciously.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His eyes dart lower to the black panties she’s wearing and it’s impossible not to think about pulling them down her thighs and burying his face there -- he already knows she smells devine. The few times things had gotten hot and heavy between them, he’d felt the beginnings of the damp warmth seeping through her pants.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shivers at the memory, and his mind blanks out again as a desperate need for Rey takes over. The last time he felt this way was when he was in a rut and it was embarrassingly pathetic that a simple picture was enough to almost push him to that point again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before he even knows what he’s doing, he fumbles with the call button and when Rey answers, all that comes out is a growl, “Omega.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hears Rey’s sharp intake of breath and then, “Alpha…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The word alone sends even more blood rushing to his cock and he strokes himself faster, his breath coming out in harsh pants.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you…” Rey begins and then as if she realizes exactly what he’s doing she squeaks out, “Oh.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Omega,” he manages, “You’re so good. So pretty…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s silence on the other end and Ben wonders if he’s said too much, gone too far by calling her and jerking off over the phone. But then he hears the rustle of fabric and Rey’s shaky breath and he wants to cry with a mixture of happiness and frustration at the thought of Rey touching her wet cunt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He strains his ears, trying to listen for any sounds but there isn’t much to hear aside from her breathy pants so he continues, “It was such a nice gift, Omega… letting me see your pretty little tits…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She moans this time and he swears that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>can</span>
  </em>
  <span> hear the wet noises from between her legs; it fills him with pride how a few words of praise has reduced her to </span>
  <em>
    <span>this. </span>
  </em>
  <span>His hips jerk off the bed and he squeezes his eyes shut against the mounting pleasure. He keeps going, “My Omega is so good… such a good girl. And so beautiful.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A whining sound erupts from her throat, followed by, “Alpha…” and his body’s response to her call is so automatic -- with a few more jerks of his hips he spills himself into his fist and then wipes his hand on his shirt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey’s breathing is calming down on the other end and he wonders if she’d finished too but now that his Alpha is satisfied, any confidence he’d had in the last few minutes vanished with his orgasm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s still quiet, he’s listening to Rey breathe as he struggles to figure out what to say. Finally, after a long stretch, she asks, “Did you like the picture?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben almost laughs, but it comes out as a huff because </span>
  <em>
    <span>obviously</span>
  </em>
  <span> he liked the picture. He won’t hurt her feelings by belittling her question, and if anything, his inner Alpha wants to heap more praise onto her so he answers, “It’s my favorite gift.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Really?” Rey asks tentatively. “Better than the massage gun?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There is no question in his mind which gift is better, “Way better. I mean it, Rey. Thank you.” He wishes he could see her face and he wonders if she’s smiling. He wants her to be happy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good,” she finally says and he thinks he can hear her smile. “Goodnight, Ben.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Goodnight, Rey,” he says and before the words can even be stopped, he says, “I love you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t say anything at all and he wonders if she’s already hung up on him but then he hears a sniff and his heart crashes into his stomach. “Rey?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sniffs again and when she speaks, all that comes out is a shaky, “Ben…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He panics, tries to think of a way to backtrack, “I…” There is no taking it back. He’d said it and now she’s crying and he’s the biggest idiot on the face of the planet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben, me too…” she finally says and the words must be harder for her to say and Ben wonders if it’s because she’s never said them. He wishes she were here so he could pull her into his arms. “I love you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He opens his mouth to say something, but then the line goes dead and when he pulls his phone away from his ear to double check, a message from Rey pops up: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Sorry. I panicked.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He smiles at the message but makes a concentrated effort not to say or do anything that’ll scare her away so he types back, </span>
  <em>
    <span>It’s ok</span>
  </em>
  <span>, before plugging his phone back into the charger.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey sends him more pictures, some for no reason at all and others on special occasions like Christmas. He sends her some too, shirtless ones and ones where the outline of his erection is clearly visible through whatever he has on -- it’s safe and not too much to scare her away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One Monday towards the middle of February, the winter formal is announced over the PA system and it’s all the student body can talk about for the rest of the day. When the track team meets at the fieldhouse, Kaydel excitedly asks, “You’re coming right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There is no way Rey can afford a dress and even if she picked up extra shifts, the practical side of her refuses to put down that much money on a dress she’ll wear only once. She shrugs at her friend, “Maybe.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have to,” she insists and she nods over to where the boys are stretching, “Don’t you want to dance with Ben? Or at least see him in a suit?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The thought </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> appealing to Rey but she says quietly, “I don’t have a dress.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Kaydel scoffs, “Is </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> why you’re being so weird about it. You can borrow mine from last year. Ben’s never seen it because he didn’t go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure?” Rey asks, but already she’s starting to feel some of the excitement that the rest of the girls at school must be feeling. “I don’t want to be a pain…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you kidding? It’s not a pain! We can get ready together. It’ll be fun,” she insists and when she grins, Rey can’t help grinning back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey begins to feel sick the Thursday before the dance but this time she’s not fooling herself about what’s happening -- she has another heat coming soon. Ben senses it too and it’s embarrassing to think that any Alpha could probably smell it on her -- perhaps that’s why he walks her to and from every class.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On Friday, Rey tags along with Ben and Kaydel so that they can get ready for the dance. Leia insists on taking her temperature and when she sighs, Rey knows what’s coming, “Rey… I think you’ll have to sit this one out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She feels tears prickle her eyes as Kaydel pats her shoulder, “It’s okay. There’s always prom. Winter formal is kind of a bust anyway…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey knows that Kaydel is just saying that to cheer her up. There weren’t many happy memories or big events in Rey’s life and Kaydel couldn’t know what going to Winter Formal had meant to Rey so she just nods and wipes her eyes, “Yeah, it’s fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to stay here, dear?” Leia coos and pulls her into an embrace like a mother would. “I can take care of you. If you don’t want Ben here, we’ll send him to the Huxes…” It’s said jokingly but Rey knows Leia well enough by now to know that she’d kick Ben out in a second if Rey wanted her to.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t want to send Ben away, but she also doesn’t know that she wants him near her when she’s in heat so she shrugs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t mind,” Ben says and even though his voice is light, she knows that it bothers him that she might not want him around. “I want you to stay, Rey,” he adds and it sounds almost like a command.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia looks to her, “The guest room is all yours and you can decide later if you want to kick Ben out. How does that sound?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It sounds better than crawling through a fence and spending three days, tired and hungry, in a junked out car at a dump. “Alright. But you guys go have fun at the dance, ok?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben’s face falls, like the dance is the absolute last place he wants to be, “I can stay and…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben,” Leia scolds, “Give her some space.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben’s brows furrow and it looks like he wants to argue with his mom, but he says nothing before giving a terse nod and turning around to go to his room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey feels bad for rejecting Ben, but she didn't outright turn him down. She just didn’t want to be the reason he missed out on having fun with the rest of their friends. “He’ll be fine,” Leia assures her. “Now let’s make a grocery list and we’ll send Han out to fetch it all for you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Ben leaves forty-five minutes later, looking handsome in his rented suit, an ugly feeling twists up inside of Rey at the thought of him dancing and having fun without her. He gives her a kiss and promises to be home in a few hours, but it does nothing to alleviate the icky way she feels.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leia makes up the guest room for her and has Han drag the big tv upstairs so Rey can watch it. Leia gives her some towels and lots of gatorade and snacks and insists that she calls if she needs anything at all. This is what it must be like, Rey thinks, to have parents who care.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She curls onto her side and turns the tv on -- there’s nothing interesting on and Ben isn’t around to recommend a movie. On top of that, her skin feels too tight and itchy and what would have been a gradual transition into heat is now moving on quickly because the entire house smells like Alpha.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The thought of letting Ben have his fun, uninterrupted by her neediness, keeps Rey from picking up her phone for over an hour but she finally gives in around nine o’clock. When she opens instagram, that ugly feeling is back. There’s a picture of Hux with a flask of something that’s clearly not school-approved and a picture of Kaydel and Poe dancing that Rey likes only because she’s happy for her friend.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s the picture on Bazine’s feed that does her in -- she’s wearing a red dress, almost the exact same color as the one Rey had borrowed from Kaydel and it matches Ben’s tie the way </span>
  <em>
    <span>hers </span>
  </em>
  <span>was supposed to and the worst part is that in the picture, Bazine is smushed up next to Ben who is grinning into the camera. To anyone else, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>looks</span>
  </em>
  <span> like Bazine and Ben are on a date.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The feeling that tears through Rey is unlike anything else she’s experienced -- it’s worse than losing her mom and it’s worse than when the Millers had put all of her things in garbage bags on the lawn. It’s the worst thing she’s ever felt and she curls in on herself as a sob rips out of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was stupid of her to insist that Ben go without her. Bazine taking advantage of the situation is such an obvious thing to Rey now that it makes her cry even harder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The room suddenly feels too stuffy and she throws the covers off of her. She needs to go, her brain tells her, find somewhere safe and warm and quiet…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She creeps out of the room and down the stairs, past where Han is snoring on the couch and out the back door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ben, I got a text from your mom,” Kaydel shouts over the music and he turns to see his friend with a concerned look on her face. “Have you checked your phone?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shakes his head and pulls it out of his pocket to find a message from his mom: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Went to check on Rey and she’s gone. Your father and I are looking for her, so don’t panic.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The first emotion to hit him is anger -- at his parents for letting Rey leave, at himself for coming to this stupid dance and even at Rey for leaving when she promised to stay. He shoves his phone in his pocket and tells Kaydel, “I’m going to go look for her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll come too,” Kaydel insists, grabbing her clutch from the table the track team had staked a claim over all night. She stops to tell Poe what is going on and he quickly hands over his car keys since Hux had driven them there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on,” Ben says quickly, taking the keys from Kaydel as they walk across the parking lot towards the old station wagon.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sure she’s fine,” Kaydel insists, and Ben knows that she’s trying to placate him, but it does nothing to calm him down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They drive back to his house first, long enough for Ben to run upstairs and see for himself that Rey is gone. She’d left her phone behind on the bed and when he picks it up, the first thing he sees is a dozen missed calls from his parents.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The second thing he sees makes him see red: a picture he’d taken with Bazine and Kaydel, who had been cropped out of the picture all together. Ben wasn’t stupid and he knew what game Bazine was playing at because she’d been playing at it for months, trying to get under Rey’s skin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look,” Ben says when Kaydel joins him and he thrusts the phone out at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Shit,” Kaydel swears. “Did Rey see that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It was open on her phone…” Ben says and hands it over to Kaydel. “You stay here in case she comes back, ok?” With that, he takes Poe’s keys and drives to the junkyard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey is nowhere to be found -- she’s disappeared off the face of the earth for a second time. She’s not at Plutt’s or in the junkyard behind it, a fact proved by Han, Leia and Ben’s heavy search. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The only thing that gets Ben to leave is a text he receives from Kaydel that says: </span>
  <em>
    <span>Come home.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they arrive, Kaydel is waiting by the front door and as soon as they walk though, she says, “I found Rey.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Relief fills Ben and he asks, “Where?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kaydel leads them through the house towards the back door. “I came in the kitchen for a drink and I noticed the light on in the treehouse…” She nods up at their childhood playhouse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll go check on her,” Leia insists, pulling the sliding glass door open. “She’s gotta be freezing up there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh,” Kaydel grimaces. “Maybe Ben should check on her.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Um, she’s very… naked,” Kaydel bites her lip, trying not to laugh. “And she threw her shoe at me when she saw me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh,” Leia says. “Ben…?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He nods and his hand is shaking as he pushes the door open the rest of the way. Rey is in the treehouse, naked and in heat. It’s a monumental moment for him -- not just because it’s the first heat he’ll spend with an Omega, but because there is a chance she will reject him. He doesn’t know </span>
  <em>
    <span>what</span>
  </em>
  <span> he’ll do if she throws a shoe at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He takes a deep breath and Han puts a hand on his shoulder, “Just take care of her. Whatever she needs, that’s what’s important.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right,” Ben nods and hesitates before turning around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where are you going?” he hears his mother call as he climbs the stairs to his room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He gathers up all the blankets and pillows from his bed and goes back downstairs. “How are you going to carry all that up there?” Kaydel snorts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Ben moves it all to one arm to demonstrate his plan, waddling out the door as he struggles to keep a pillow from falling onto the ground. He climbs the rungs that Han had painstakingly nailed to the tree trunk, pausing when his comforter gets caught up under his foot and Leia cries out, “Be careful!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He glances down where his parents and Kaydel have gathered around the bottom of the tree and he calls down, “Go away!” The last thing he wants is for his rejection to be witnessed. His parents will be gentle about it, but Kaydel will tease him mercilessly even if it hurts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They grumble as they head back inside and he’s pretty sure they’re still watching from behind the sliding doors as he pushes the trap door open and pops his head inside. He glimpses Rey, only briefly before he pushes the blankets and pillows into the treehouse. Once they’re inside, he hoists himself the rest of the way in and quickly latches the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey is in the corner, hugging her knees to her chest so that he can’t actually see anything, but he hungrily looks anyway. When she doesn’t throw a shoe, he says, “I brought you some blankets.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She watches him as he picks them up and crawls towards her cautiously, setting them at her feet. “Rey. I know you saw the picture.” She flinches at first and then her nose wrinkles as she bares her teeth at him. “Bazine is stupid. She’s stupid if she thinks cropping Kaydel out of a picture is going to change anything. She’s stupid for trying to come between us, Rey, because nothing can.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her shoulders untense, but she eyes him warily as she leans forward and gathers up the blankets. Ben swallows as she uncurls herself and he tries not to stare at her breast or her hips or her thighs and especially not her backside and the tiny glimpse of pink between her legs as she arranges and rearranges the blankets and pillows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>She’s nesting, his brain supplies and he knows that means that she plans to stay here for the remainder of her heat. When he’d presented, he’d poured over the pamphlets he’d gotten about heats and ruts and he knew that the fact that Rey had accepted his gift and is making a nest out of blankets covered in </span>
  <em>
    <span>his</span>
  </em>
  <span> scent meant that she isn’t planning on rejecting him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But she still hasn’t said a word to him and it makes him feel on edge. “Omega…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The word seems to be magic and Rey whimpers as the scent of her slick fills the tiny treehouse. “Alpha…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben breathes it in and his eyes roll back into his head. He could drown in how good she smells; he has to draw his hands into a fist and will himself not to pounce. “Finish your nest, Omega,” he tells her. “And then you can have whatever you want.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t know what he’s promising her, if he can even give her whatever she wants. His Alpha insists that he can and that he </span>
  <em>
    <span>will</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but the inexperienced virgin Ben Solo has his doubts. What if he isn’t good at eating her out or if he isn’t able to make her come or if he can’t last long enough…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey is scrambling to finish and when she does, she sits up on her knees and looks at him, “Is it good, Alpha?” she asks softly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His eyes are laser-focused on her breasts, the way they bounce with each movement and how her nipples harden under his gaze, turning from a light pinky to a rosy color. He licks his lips and crawls towards her, “It’s perfect, Omega.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She makes a humming sound as if she’s pleased with herself or maybe with him and she scoots back to make room for him in the nest she’s created for them. She stops him as he begins to crawl in and her hands push his suit jacket off and her fingers shake as she works to undo all of the buttons.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’s so close that he could just reach out and touch her. It’s the first time he’s seen her naked and he feels like he’s in a dream. When she finishes with the buttons, she pushes it off his shoulders and he helps her by pulling his arms out of the sleeves as she works on his belt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everything is going so fast, but Ben knows it’s her heat -- part of him wishes that their first time could be under different circumstances but the other part of him is just so happy that he’s here and that she wants him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She undoes the zipper on his pants and looks up at him. “Off,” she says, nudging the fabric down. Her cheeks are pink and her eyes are sparkling, even if her pupils are dilated, and he knows how much he’s wanted. Even if they’ve never taken this step, nothing about their feelings will change afterwards. He maneuvers his legs so that he can slide his pants off and when he’s completely naked, he crawls towards her. “Oh,” she says.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He watches as her eyes fall to his erection and it twitches proudly under her eyes: it’s a relief that she’s finally seen all of him and when she licks her lips, he can’t help the swell of pride he feels. Finally, he lets his own eyes fall between her legs, to where the smell is the sweetest and he pushes her gently back against the blankets.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her thighs are covered in slick and when he pushes knees apart, it’s so thick and sticky that strings of slick form between her thighs. “Omega,” he groans, because his brain had not been able to supply how wet and pink and pretty she would be. Her cunt flutters and more wetness drips out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He swallows at the sight, already imagining how good it will feel once he’s inside of her. But first… first he needs to burn the taste of her into his memory. Before she can protest, he drops onto his elbows and licks his way up her thighs -- it’s salty and tangy and his eyes </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> roll back into his head as he resists the urge to bite, to leave marks all over her lean legs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her fingers weave into his hair, her nails scratching at his scalp in a way that makes his cock throb and he rubs himself against the blankets, against the nest that Rey made for them. With a swipe of his tongue, he licks up her slick coated slit, groaning at how much stronger the taste is straight from the source.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alpha,” she moans, and her hips move against his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She likes it,</span>
  </em>
  <span> his Alpha says. </span>
  <em>
    <span>More. Give her more. Give her everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He uses his fingers to part her folds gently, he licks along every inch, he finds the tight little hole where it leaks from, where he’ll fill her up later. He licks up, finding the little bundle of nerves that makes Rey cry out and shutter against him. When he takes it between his lips sucking on it and flicking it with his tongue, she comes apart completely, babbling, “Alpha yes, yes…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When her fingers tug on his hair, he takes the hint and sits up, only for Rey to pull her against her and kiss him. It’s different than any other kiss, more primal with open mouths and licking tongues and heated breaths. It’s sloppy and wild but Ben likes this hungry side of Rey too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He falls between her legs, groaning when his hard-on rubs against her slick coated thighs. Everything is wet and smells like sex and it’s making Ben lose his grip on any sense of reality. She’s sending him into rut, he thinks as he rubs himself against her thigh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She makes that humming noise again, the same one she made when he complimented the nest, and Ben says against her lips, “Omega, do you want this?” he moves his hips to the left, so he’s settled between her thighs and he groans when his cock nudges her warm cunt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, yes, Alpha, please…” she begs, her legs falling open wider as she moves her hips.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He slides against her cunt as she rubs herself on him, coating him in her slick. A wild thought occurs to him -- to demand that she lick it off and his Alpha promises there will be time for that later. For now, he reaches down and lines himself up. It takes three tries before he catches on the right spot and when he starts to push in, the noise Rey makes is so loud, there’s no way his parents hadn’t heard it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alpha,” Rey warbles and he almost stops, thinking that he’s hurt her, but she grips his shoulders and says, “More.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Heat envelops the tip of his cock as he nudges the head all the way inside of her. He’d thought about this moment more times than he could count. He’d imagined how nice Rey would smell and how tight and warm she would feel around him, but it was nothing like the actual experience of being inside of her. His hips snap forward and he groans, his head dropping to her shoulder as her muscles clench and flex around him. “Omega,” he says, peppering her shoulder with kisses and licks, “you feel so good, so perfect.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“For you, Alpha,” she says, and the hands gripping his shoulders wrap around his back, holding him close to her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He slides his hips back, moaning as her walls grip him. When he pushes back in, there’s a wet sound and the more he pounds into her, the wetter she gets. He angles his hips, trying to thrust himself deeper, to feel more of Rey and each time his pelvic bone grinds against her clit, she moans and clutches him tighter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When her walls flutter around him, he loses any semblance of control he has left and there’s a new feeling building as his orgasm approaches. He’s never knotted before, but it’s like that tingling feeling before a sneeze and when it inflates and he pushes it inside of Rey, she cries out as her walls flutter a second time and Ben lets go.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His hips stutter and he tries to push in further even though he’s already knotted as deep as he can go as he pumps her full of cum. It doesn’t stop, Ben realizes with a groan, it feels so good; better than any normal orgasm and she’s making that humming sound again as his cock periodically twitches and more cum gushes forth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They don’t say anything for a long time as they catch their breath, but Ben doesn’t think it’s awkward or uncomfortable. His head is cushioned on her chest and she doesn’t mind the added weight, it seems, as she plays with his hair. When his knot starts to deflate, he pulls out and gathers Rey into his arms, finally asking, “Okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She rests her head on his chest this time, and her fingers drum on his stomach to the beat of his own heart beat. “Perfect,” she says and her voice is content in a way that Ben has never heard. She’s happy, he realizes, and he pulls her close. After a moment, she asks, “Can we do it again?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He almost laughs, “In a while, Omega. Get some rest.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She huffs, sounding a little annoyed but does as she’s told, closing her eyes and he knows she’s asleep when her fingers stop drumming.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>When Rey wakes up, she’s dizzy with want in a way she’s never felt in heat. Her body isn’t itchy or tight the way it normally feels when she wakes. No, her body knows what it feels like to be stuffed full now and she’s surrounded by Ben’s scent. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Alpha will take care of you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, her Omega urges as Rey tries to wake herself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sits up and pushes the blankets off -- Alpha must have covered them up at some point and that won’t do. Her eyes settle between his legs, where he’s half hard still. She reaches between her own legs, pausing to rub her clit in anticipation of what’s to come before she coats her fingers in slick. She brings her hand to his cock, wrapping it around him and stroking until he’s hard. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She doesn’t know what she’s doing, it’s pure instinct that her Omega knows what to do to make Alpha ready for her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “What are you-” Ben groans sleepily and when Rey swings a leg over his hip to straddle him, his mouth falls open. “Oh…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She sinks down on top of him, and her toes curl when he’s fully seated inside of her. He’s so big, and her heart beats excitedly at that. What should hurt, what </span>
  <em>
    <span>would</span>
  </em>
  <span> hurt under normal circumstances is nothing now. Her body is slick and ready for him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She leans forward, placing her palms on his chest for leverage as she starts bouncing on top of him. Each drag of his cock as she pushes up and every slide against her walls as she slams back down brings her closer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When she starts to tire, Ben grabs her hips, moving her up and down almost like a ragdoll and Rey loves it more than she thought she would. She feels small and taken care of in a way that no one has ever made her feel. “B-ben…” she sobs as her orgasm grows closer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, sweetheart,” he coos back at her. “You’re doing so good. You feel, ah, amazing…” he lifts his head from his pillow and latches onto a nipple.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah,” Rey cries out and her nails dig into his chest as her hips grind down against him. She had no idea her nipples were that sensitive and before she has a chance to really process that, her orgasm crashes down on her and she gushes slick all over Ben.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” he praises, “Good, good girl…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s that feeling again, the one that makes her insides turn to must and Ben is still mumbling praises into her breasts when his knot pushes inside of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That pleasant feeling of completeness is back now that they’re locked together and she feels so content as she plays with his hair and lets him nuzzle her breasts, an occasional lick or suck sends shivers down her spine.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The knot doesn’t last as long and she’s almost sad when it deflates and he slides out of her. She climbs off of him and crawls out of the nest to the window, pushing the curtain open. “What are you doing?” Ben calls. “Come back here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Rey crawls back over and climbs into the nest and Ben pulls her back against him. “It’s a full moon. I want to look at it,” she says and turns to face the window.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ben curls around her back protectively, placing a kiss over the mating gland on her neck. She shivers and thinks again about how she wouldn’t mind if he bit her, if they could stay like this forever. “Are you hungry?” Ben whispers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Rey says and her stomach growls to prove it. “But don’t go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His grip on her loosens. “I’ll be right back, Omega.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She wants to argue, her Omega demands it, as he pulls away and sits up, reaching for his underwear and shirt. “Do you promise?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He casts her an amused look as he buttons the shirt haphazardly. “Promise what?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That you won’t leave me,” Rey says, and she drags her eyes away from Ben to look at the moon.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Never,” Ben promises and leans down to kiss her forehead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So the next chapter will be the last chapter with our high school babies which means... the betrayal. Stay tuned (and hopefully it won't be two months until the next update &gt;&lt; I'm so sorry).</p><p>But hey, follow me on <a href="https://twitter.com/jeeaysee0925">Twitter</a> if you don't because I do polls to let people pick which fics update next ;)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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